Ahead of the July 12th release of his debut Thrill Jockey album Helpless Spectator, Umberto (composer Matt Hill) has released the single "Absent Images" along with the first installation of a video series which showcases his music's impact on how one views the same scene. Thrill Jockey issued Umberto a challenge: can you transform a series of banal shorts (directed by Julia Dratel) into something emotive? The results are deeply affecting in entirely contrasting ways.
Hill's work as
Umberto is distinctly cinematic. Choosing the moniker as an homage to director
Umberto Lenzi, Hill is an experienced and active film composer, most recently scoring the film All That We Destroy. In addition to film and commercial work,
Umberto has released a number of lauded solo recordings. Hill's compositions stand apart as beautiful as they are impenetrable, with pulsing synths that hint at 80s slasher films while pensive string passages evoke emotions without being sentimental.
On Umberto's Thrill Jockey debut Helpless Spectator, his haunting music is otherworldly and affecting alike, leaving the listener with an unsettling and profound air of mystery. Hill makes masterful use of varied textures throughout the album, blending supernatural effects and grounded instruments to create distinct atmospheres. Helpless Spectator is inquisitive and moving in equal measure, an album of somber elegance and delicate arrangements whose cumulative effect of unease is entirely unexpected.
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