- Claude Speeed's first solo album, My Skeleton, was a graceful sweep of orchestral strings, pianos and swelling walls of sound. Sun Czar Temple is very much a continuation of My Skeleton's moods and atmospheres and, like its full-length counterpart, works best when treated as one continuous piece.
The EP's first half is made up of muscular yet blissful soundscapes. "Traumzeuge" kicks off in fourth gear with a cacophonous, multi-layered field of distortion, a barely discernible melody and bass that wouldn't sound out of place on a Sunn O))) record. A surprise comes near the end, when it all dissipates into a faraway pop song, as Speeed's yearning voice and a simple guitar melody pierce through the noise. "Dr. Liz Wilson" is almost as dense but a little gentler, with an undulating haze of pads, chimes and bass.
The short, field recordings-based "VIN" ushers in a second half that finds Speeed adding more textures to his crashing walls of sound. "Fret" takes chaotic high notes and freeform drum claps into its gale of pads, while "R U Sorry?" is slow but epic—a shifting cast of orchestral swells and sparse bass melodies eventually gives way to a twinkle of harp notes. Sun Czar Temple shows there's still plenty of mileage in Claude Speeed's current template.
Lista de títulosA1 Traumzeuge
A2 Dr. Liz Wilson
A3 VIN
B1 Fret
B2 R U Sorry?