Jacob Long
has been releasing dark, eerie soundscapes as
Earthen Sea
since the early 2000s, when he was a member of the
Dischord
-signed post-hardcore band
Black Eyes
. His solo project was less active during the late 2000s and early 2010s, when he and fellow
alumni
Daniel Martin-McCormick
were playing tribal post-punk as part of
Mi Ami
. While that group eventually started making hazy, lo-fi house music similar to
Martin-McCormick
's work as
Ital
, releasing the 2012 album
Decade
on the Los Angeles-based
100% Silk
label,
Long
went in a much more reserved direction when he began incorporating beats into his solo work. Rather than sunny, playful club tracks, his beat-driven excursions are sparse, solemn, and introspective. Following releases on
's
Lovers Rock
and
Nicolas Jaar
Other People
,
An Act of Love
is
's initial release for
Kranky
, and it makes sense that the project would become labelmates with ambient techno artists like
Loscil
Ethernet
. Some of the tracks feature crisp, shuffling beats, which have a bit of a nervous jitter to them, but they're set atop glacial synths and icy pianos. When the tracks are beatless, they sound like the musical equivalent of distant waves rushing deep in the night. What
does isn't exactly complicated, at least on the surface, but it's still highly immersive and quite gorgeous. Recommended for fans of
Rafael Anton Irisarri
the Sight Below
Deepchord
Bvdub
, and of course most artists on
. ~ Paul Simpson