![\"Inward](\"https:\/\/www.ambientblog.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/inward-circles.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTHE INWARD CIRCLES \u2013 BEFORE WE LIE DOWN IN DARKNESSE<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Inward Circles<\/em><\/strong> is one of the aliases of Richard Skelton<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. On his sixth album as The Inward Circles<\/em><\/strong> he \u2018continues his preoccupation with decay and transformation\u2019<\/em>. One look at the album title is enough that this will not be an album of hedonistic happiness. The track titles confirm this: for example the last two pieces are called The Glory Of The World Is Surely Over<\/em> and To End Their Days In Fire<\/em>. These titles, by the way, are all taken from Thomas Browne\u2019s Urn Burial<\/a> <\/em>(1658) <\/p>\nThis album came to life when Skelton<\/em><\/strong> found an fifty-year-old vinyl album with Baroque recorder music in a charity shop. There\u2019s no sound of any recorder on it, however: he only used the last six seconds of the runout groove to create these compositions. The result is less minimalistic than this may sound: the sounds of the runout groove are heavily manipulated into layered chords that form these compositions. <\/p>\nOverall, the atmosphere is sad, as expected, but not hopeless: \u2018the music of \u2018Before We Lie Down in Darknesse<\/strong>\u2018 glimmers all the more brightly because it is recuperated from a source that is on the point of disappearing. Even as Skelton acknowledges\u2014via the words of Thomas Browne\u2014our seemingly inevitable descent into impending darkness, he cannot help but offer a small gesture of hope; a belief in the possibility of change and\u00a0renewal\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n
This album came to life when Skelton<\/em><\/strong> found an fifty-year-old vinyl album with Baroque recorder music in a charity shop. There\u2019s no sound of any recorder on it, however: he only used the last six seconds of the runout groove to create these compositions. The result is less minimalistic than this may sound: the sounds of the runout groove are heavily manipulated into layered chords that form these compositions. <\/p>\n Overall, the atmosphere is sad, as expected, but not hopeless: \u2018the music of \u2018Before We Lie Down in Darknesse<\/strong>\u2018 glimmers all the more brightly because it is recuperated from a source that is on the point of disappearing. Even as Skelton acknowledges\u2014via the words of Thomas Browne\u2014our seemingly inevitable descent into impending darkness, he cannot help but offer a small gesture of hope; a belief in the possibility of change and\u00a0renewal\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n