A Winged Victory for the Sullen - The Undivided Five
Nov 6, 2019
84
While not nearly as beautiful or emotional as their masterpiece self-titled 2011 album, Undivided Five proves once again that the duo encompassing Winged Victory are among the most talented and professional ambient and neo-classical artists working. The subtle electronic touches are the perfect accompaniment to the largely piano and string arrangements, and like all Winged Victory projects, the sequencing is perfect, beginning with an expository piano piece, ramping up through the playful Victorian Pencil and tongue-in-cheek Aqualung, to the emotional climax of Adios, Florida. Teaser Track Rhythm of the Undivided Pair feels like a breaking of new ground for the project, more spacious and, digital and cinematic than previous acoustic works. The highs on this album don't quite reach the highs of the self-titled or Atomos, but it's a consistent and extremely pleasant listen, if not the slightest bit underwhelming at times. You almost wonder what the Winged Victory boys could do if they really set their mind to making a masterpiece, as all three of their LPs almost feel dashed off, the talent between them so immense that their casual projects still make their contemporaries look like amateurs.

A good comparison might be an album like Charcoal by Brambles (https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/165207-brambles-charcoal.php). That album is pretty, sophisticated, well recorded, tight. And yet the compositions are like undergraduate papers next to the colossal, tenure-track professor level academic theory that is any Winged Victory album.

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