LIMINA’s Gorgeous “Dissolved” Creates A Textured Soundscape of Perseverance

LIMINA’s
Gorgeous “Dissolved” Creates A Textured Soundscape of Perseverance

Debut Album Coming Home out April 23, 2024 via Sonic Ritual

MARCH 12, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA) — The sonic landscape in “Dissolved“ describes the journey that is moving through feelings of doubt. “There’s a balance of unease and determination woven into the track. In the middle of the piece, the music drops out almost entirely as if doubt has won, but ultimately, the theme of determination emerges more boldly than before,” says Los Angeles-based composer Tyler Durham about the second track from his upcoming debut album under the LIMINA moniker (Coming Home out April 23, 2024 via Sonic Ritual).

From granular piano plucks to bowed guitar pads to distorted and repitched drums, he creates a sonic environment “Dissolved” that serves as a great playground for sound design experimentation and texture.

Following the release of the first single “Sanctum” (a composition about self-reflection and unearthing a place in oneself where we can be consoled, seen, and restored), “Dissolved” features eerie, bent notes that sway across the measures, a skittery snare rhythm, rolling bass kicks and the occasional cavernous stomp. 

Heard at proper volume, “Dissolved” is a captivating and immersive experience. Infiltrating the subconscious, the song seeps in subliminally, like a power outage during a heat wave, casting all other concerns aside, forcing you to lean in and marinate in Limina’s textural backdrop.

Durham’s upcoming debut solo album, Coming Home, was recorded at AIR studios (Lyndhurst Hall in London, UK) with members from The Philharmonia Orchestra. Playing on Durham’s unique storytelling ability as a film composer, the album’s inspiration was brought out after spending time in transit on the London Tube.

Observant and quietly taking mental notes, he says of his watchful gaze, “you get the faintest glimpse of their experience through a laugh, a clenched fist, or just silent contemplation.” As he internalized the hums and rhythms of trains rolling from station to station, he watched riders in the midst of their daily routines and wondered what they might be silently awaiting, or confronting.

The result of these travels is the breathtaking, dynamic Coming Home, which presents what Durham describes as “a story of someone estranged from their family but wanting to make amends, and what that emotional journey would look like.”

The composer’s palette – featuring neoclassical elements and atmospheric electronics akin to the work of Sigur Rós and layers of delicately arranged textures that suggest another Icelandic icon, the late Jóhann Jóhannsson – blossomed within AIR’s famed Lyndhurst Hall. Tones ranging from piano plucks, synth dots and bowed guitar pads to pipe organ and distorted, gated and repitched drums activated the sacred space. Some other patterns arrived as found sounds – tube cars, falling rocks and church bells, for example. Others washed in via VSS-30, Cycle and Serum synth tones.

Coming Home Tracklisting:

1. Boarding
2. We Are Bound
3. Dissolved
4. Mirrors
5. Flows Back
6. Let It Take You
7. Whispers
8. Beginnings
9. Sanctum
10. Coming Home
11. Return
12. Where I Am

As a creator who thrives in cross-disciplinary collaborations, the concept of LIMINA first emerged for Durham in 2020 with his debut EP Hidden Spaces as a way for him to channel his mesmerizing skills as a synth programmer for film, games, and television in favor of something more personal. Obsessed with scoring for film since he first began to appreciate music, Durham has devoted his creative life to the discipline.

He has worked with Academy Award-nominated composer James Newton Howard on films such as News of the World, Jungle Cruise, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life. He also writes additional music for the hit Netflix series Outer Banks and Biohackers and frequently collaborates with celebrated composer Pinar Toprak on projects such as The Lost City, Slumberland, and an upcoming Netflix docuseries. He has also worked with Toprak on music for Disney World’s EPCOT theme park. 

“Dissolved” is available on all streaming platforms today via Sonic Ritual. LIMINA’a debut album Coming Home will be released on April 23, 2024.  

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