Pete Lambrou is the composer and multi-instrumentalist behind VLMV (pronounced “Alma”), whose career has traversed atmospheric solo work, film and television scoring, and evocative live performance.
VLMV releases his fourth studio album `There Will Come Soft Rains` this month which reflects on humanity’s legacy, its technological ambition, and its uneasy relationship with the natural world. The album takes its title from Sara Teasdale’s 1918 poem and Ray Bradbury’s later short story, both of which imagine a world continuing quietly after humanity’s disappearance. Written during a period of deep engagement with climate fiction and ecological thought. A century on from Teasdale’s poem, the balance of power feels less certain, and Lambrou’s music inhabits that tension with remarkable subtlety.
`Tribal (A Heart, Self-Taught)` leads us in and it`s a fairly overwhelming listen that veers from a real fragility to a more rhythmic sound with a pulsing heartbeat with tender vocals sprinkled above. A recurring key refrain guides us into and through `We Are All Explorers Now` with cello hues that give it a pictorial image of waves crashing against a shoreline.
`The Pilot` feels quite remote with a variety of synth like beeps before gaining a more cadenced vibrating beat with strings and gentle vocals. There`s a kind of church like organ ambience to the beginning of `Bodies Grown Pt.1` before it expands and becomes much more haunting.
`In Absentia` equates to in absence or not there and this track does have a kind of astral projection, disembodiment or simply an out of body experience. The deeply reflective `I Am An Officer` seems to hint at a person holding a position of authority, responsibility, or command within an organisation and not seeming comfortable with this position.
`Philistine! (Reclaim The Sky)` is a call to take back ownership of freedom, space, or perspective, representing independence, artistic ownership, or environmental protection with the number being quite mesmerising in its presentation while lyrically demanding action. We have a whispered sentiment over a piano chord refrain throughout `Bodies Grown Pt.2`.
The final arrangement `Somnolence In Reverse` suggests an awakening of sorts, an alertness, vigour, or energy and while it does imply this it`s very subtle in its approach.
`There Will Come Soft Rains` signifies that nature is indifferent to human existence and will continue, unbothered, even if humanity destroys itself. It highlights themes of technological overreach, nature’s resilience, and the inevitability of time over human creation. For me, the album while fairly stripped back and sparse at times has a deep and rich beauty about it that i`m sure I’ll appreciate the more times I return to listen and imbibe. There were additional vocals by Anja Madhvani, violins performed by Marie Schreer & Clodagh Kennedy, along with cellos performed by Fraser Bowles & Ariana Kashef.
I read that VLMV or Pete Lambrou is one of the most singular voices emerging from the ambient, post-rock, and experimental scenes in the UK. VLMV have toured the UK and mainland Europe as the headline act and support with the likes of Mono, Lonely The Brave, And So I Watch You From Afar, Nordic Giants and God Is An Astronaut, and performing as prestigious festivals ArcTanGent, Dunk, Portals, and Post In Paris.
`There Will Come Soft Rains` was my introduction to this singular pioneering musician and I now have three previous albums to explore and another artist to add to my list of acts to see live.
Rating 8.5/10
