What We Don't See by FINAL

At the level of atoms, most of what we see, touch, taste, and smell is empty space. Our experience of the world is not defined by what is, but by what isn’t. And on the new record What We Don’t See by FINAL, long-running project of industrial innovator Justin Broadrick, a map is made of the empty spaces inside atoms, traversing the dark void from electron to nucleus. These expansive ambient soundscapes are inspired by the concept of an invisible world, one beyond surface-level perception, something that cannot be measured but can be felt in moments of profound stillness. Though Broadrick’s work typically invokes more challenging themes, these resonant tracks lean into a calming and meditative atmosphere, free from tension and conflict, modulating tones fading in and out without consequence, formless shadows passing across a cave wall. Low, droning bass notes and lo-fi synth reverberations oscillate in wide orbit, subtle movements on a grand scale that can only be observed with close attention. Through these delicate electronic arrangements, What We Don’t See captures a dual perspective of infinite vastness and infinite smallness, like looking at a softly twinkling star the size of a pinprick in the night sky, knowing that trillions of miles away its true mass rivals our own Sun.

- Kalen