Com Truise

Com Truise
Iteration
Out: June 16, 2017
Ghostly International

"Repetition
is a form of change," reads one of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies. Seth
Haley knows the concept well, and his style of technicolour synth-wave takes
the mantra as a challenge -- how much emotion can one man convey through his
machines? Six years ago, Galactic Melt introduced space traveller Com
Truise and his journey through far-flung galaxies, before mini-epics Wave 1
and Silicon Tare expanded the story in further cosmic detail. And now Iteration
concludes this sprawling saga. True to its name, the album is built on Com
Truise hallmarks: neon-streaked melodies, big drums, robotic grooves, bleary
nostalgia. But Iteration is also the most elegant and streamlined that
Haley's music has ever sounded.

At the album's heart is an elaborate narrative, one full of longing, hope,
anxiety, and triumph. Iteration illustrates the last moments Com Truise
spends on the perilous planet Wave 1, before he and his alien love escape its
clutches to live in peace. Album opener ."..Of Your Fake Dimension"
launches the interstellar drama with its anthemic swells and widescreen sound
design, before lovesick songs like "Dryswch" and "Propagation"
outline scenes wrought with cybernetic pathos. In "Isostasy," the
synaesthetic quality of Haley's compositions is presented in
ultra-high-definition. Later, the frantic rhythms of "Syrthio"
conjure images of panicked flight as Haley's gorgeous synth melodies gild the
action in quiet heartbreak. Then comes the resounding "When Will You Find
The Limit...," when Iteration's pain and sadness finds liberation
in the vast unknown. The closing title track ends it all in a gush of majestic
revelry.

So goes the winding story that Iteration tells, and yet there's more
behind its telling. "I try hard not to write from my personal life, but it's
inevitably going to seep into the music," Haley explains. "It's
basically like I'm scoring this film in my head, but that film I'm scoring is
also somehow my life." There are glimpses of the difficult time the East
Coast native spent adjusting to a new life in Los Angeles, fighting
homesickness and burnout while also touring the world. It was a time full of
uncertainty, transition, and self-realization. After a year and a half of
living in California, Haley finally recaptured his creativity by finding new
excitement in his work. "I put more air, more breathing room in the music
-- that was the big change," he says. And once that clicked, the album
quickly materialized.

Such a clear refinement of the Com Truise sound
took time to develop, but Iteration is well worth the patience and
perseverance it cost. Some of Haley's smartest, catchiest work is here, from
the weightless pop heights of "Memory" to "Ternary"'s lush
synth-funk. A song like "Vacuume" somehow manages to balance massive
bass swells and punishing drums with stuttering angelic gasps, and "Usurper"
gracefully pairs subtle poignant melodies with uplifting dance beats. "For
me, it feels like change," Haley says of his second album, and yes, this is
Com Truise like never before. By embracing the music's inherent nature and
peerless qualities, Iteration finds new avenues of expression in its
vivid, familiar surroundings.

Tracklist
01. ...Of Your Fake Dimension
02. Ephemeron
03. Dryswch
04. Isostasy
05. Memory
06. Propagation
07. Vacuume
08. Ternary
09. Usurper
10. Syrthio
11. When Will You Find The Limit...
12. Iteration