{"id":46123,"date":"2021-04-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/surfacing-2\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:08","slug":"surfacing-2","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/surfacing-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Surfacing"},"content":{"rendered":"

When last we met two of the trio that makes up Kelp Dwellers\u2014Todd Montgomery and Gayle Ellett\u2014they were exploring a forest of a different sort under the equally evocative name of Fernwood<\/a>. The latter group\u2019s 2015 disc Arcadia<\/i> was distinctly earthy and organic, as well as entirely acoustic, using a wide array of stringed instruments and exotic percussion to create a sonic universe all its own. <\/p>\n

Kelp Dwellers finds the two stringmasters plugging in, joined by drummer Craig Kahn for a fresh exercise in aural world-building. This time the elemental theme is water rather than earth, and the vibe is more energetic yet similarly thoughtful and expansive, a sort of progressive jazz-rock-surf fusion that\u2019s full of sharp playing that nonetheless eschews any hint of flash or ego.<\/p>\n

Kelp Dwellers\u2019 debut album Surfacing<\/i> offers 42 minutes of music spread out over nine instrumental tunes, each one a subtle, mood-enhancing excursion in its own right. While the basic arrangements feature Montgomery on electric tenor guitar and Ellett on bass, the former doubles on electric mandocello, lap steel, and synths, while the latter adds electric 12-string guitar, and both feature on electric six-strings, piano and ebow (lots of ebow). <\/p>\n

The first two tracks are immediately engaging. \u201cJellyfish Song\u201d rides a lively sequence of repeating electric licks for much of its four minutes, other than an out-of-left-field ambient 30-second bridge. As on several other tunes here, the guys turn to the ebow to generate a whale-song-like tone that makes the listener feel like we\u2019re floating underwater. Then \u201cWinsome Rollers\u201d opens up with some rather surf-influenced riffing that\u2019s quickly subsumed in a rippling melody that in turn is sliced open by a probing electric lead, as the tune gathers a nice head of fusion-y steam.<\/p>\n

The midsection of the album features the slightly wonky chords of \u201cUndine\u2019s Righteous Victory\u201d; the suitably luminous \u201cWestward, Mostly Sunny\u201d with its arcing slide notes; the restless \u201cTricking King Swordfish,\u201d which veers back and forth between playful and foreboding; and \u201cOtter Finley\u2019s,\u201d which feels like the first somewhat nondescript tune on the album, at least until the bridge falls sideways into a haunted dreamscape. <\/p>\n

Both of the latter again feature ebow, as does \u201cWatch Out For Water Dog,\u201d which cooks along nicely over a mesmerizing rhythm track, with squiggly electric flourishes and intermittent waves of dreamy, slightly off-kilter ebow lending it that otherworldly feel. Penultimate cut \u201cSelkie Always Seeks\u201d features a looser, more restless foundation and more angular chord structure, with yet more dreamy ebow on top. Very pretty closer \u201cNight Ashore\u201d offers a fresh look, presenting the melody on piano and opening with a deliberate, melodic approach that has almost a Band \/ Van Morrison feel, though it steadily evolves, with ebow and slide trading notes.<\/p>\n

The sonic world the Kelp Dwellers construct on Surfacing<\/i> is thoroughly engaging, an inventive amalgam of styles that marries jazz-fusion adventurism, surf energy and dynamics, and unhurried, melodic progressive sensibilities. So often instrumental music comes down to the vibe, and the vibe here is both welcoming and expansive, thoughtful and dreamy. My advice is to dive in and let your imagination drift on this album\u2019s tides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10636],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-46123","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-kelp-dwellers","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46123"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}