Bleep

Much like the digitally distended dogs that adorn its cover, An Era Of Spiritual Tenebrae makes for an uneasy, yet oddly friendly companion across its two longform tracks.

Tenebrae marks the second release from Our Souls Are In The Hands Of The Translator, the latest moniker in Chicago producer Jamal Moss’s wildly prolific arsenal. Where his long standing Hieroglyphic Being project already stretches the experimental limits of dance music into a gleeful putty, Our Souls Are In The Hands Of The Translator feels more connected to Moss’s known stance as a Sun Ra disciple in its meditatively freeform approach. The project’s debut, 2018’s sɪŋkrɪtɪzəm, pulled hypnotic loops out of blown out house and techno tracks, but Tenebrae drives Moss’s formula further by creating a cosmic meeting place between jazz, ambient drone, and dance music across its twin 18-minute compositions.

"Continue to see yourself shining your light, brighter and brighter with every breath out,” he instructs in a mantra exercise alongside the album’s notes. “May love heal our world. May we all choose kindness and compassion."

With Tenebrae referencing a Christian service around Easter, Moss’s aim here is on earthbound spiritual healing, even if its sound is positively alien. ‘Magna Controversia’ centers around a mechanical loop as Moss twists and pulls techno transmissions into its orbit, while ‘Quomodo Erit Finis’ takes its time amidst the glitches to assemble into a groove. Ultimately, there is something meditative in The Translator’s slow-building approach, but Tenebrae is undeniably healing music that embodies the restless, digitally distorted world it’s trying to soothe.