What is the difference between downtempo, ambient, trip-hop, and chillwave? The average person can’t tell you–and truthfully, it doesn’t really matter–but Seattle’s Manatee Commune dabbles in all four genres and more on his new album, Simultaneity. For those within the ambient scene, Manatee Commune is a known quantity. Signed to Brooklyn’s Bastard Jazz Recordings, Simultaneity is his fourth full-length album. Unlike his previous albums, this one features no guest appearances so listeners are treated to nine instrumental tracks, totaling nearly 40 minutes.
The album starts with “Love Tone,” a drumless ambient track filled with lush synth pads. At just under two-and-a-half minutes, it is the shortest track on the album and feels more like an introduction that a fully fleshed out song. It gives way to “Mosaic,” one of Simultaneity‘s longest tracks at over five minutes. With complex piano, stuttering ambient vocals, and minimal house beat, the song is more representative of the contents of the album. Like same descriptors could be used for “Cast” which was released as a single in September 2023. Instead of piano, chopped up acoustic guitars are the main non-ambient element amongst the deep house beat and ocean of synth pads.
The main melody for “Path” was written on acoustic guitar originally but then translated to synth. Combined with a shuffling house beat, it creates a bouncy, effervescent track that aptly reflects the morning beach walks on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State that it was inspired by.
It really isn’t until the closing track, “Touch Theme” that you feel like you have another outlier like “Love Tone.” The song features droning synths with reverb-drenched disembodied vocals and what sounds like ocean waves below it. Unlike “Love Tone,” about two-minutes in, drums enter the fray. The glitchy dance beat separates itself from the other track’s fairly straight forward drum programming.
So maybe you can add glitch-hop to the plethora of genres that Manatee Commune wades into. Although he dips a toe into many, his commitment only seems to be to make meditative dance music. It is the kind of music that can easily fade into the background but is interesting enough that close listening is rewarding.
Rating: 8.0/10
