Space Discovery: Collin Thomas
“The Gauze Eyed Gaze of Bracketed Air” is definitely not your typical album; it’s an experience that demands your full attention and patience. In this Space Discovery, we present you Collin Thomas, an experimental artist with over two decades of music experience, who has crafted something truly unique with this project. If you’re looking for easy listening, this ain’t it.. but if you’re down to explore a journey that captures the emotional chaos of navigating someone’s toughest times, then you’re in the right place.
This project is a massive undertaking: 16 tracks, each exactly 16 minutes long, adding up to over four hours of music. But don’t let the length scare you off. The time commitment is part of the point; Thomas wants us to feel the exhaustion, the repetition, the unpredictable twists, and the heavy emotional load that comes with caring for a loved one who’s slowly slipping away. It’s like stepping into his shoes for a day: intense, overwhelming, and hauntingly beautiful.
From the almost eerily quiet opening track, “Early Onset”, you get a sense that this album is going to take you places you didn’t expect to go. The silence between the sparse piano notes is as heavy as the music itself, setting the stage for what’s to come. As the album progresses, Thomas introduces more layers: dark, misty soundscapes, glinting chimes, and unique effects that mimic the disorientation and confusion of dementia.
The album keeps going with standout tracks, each bringing its own flavor to the mix. Between tracks that feel like distant memories struggling to surface, and tracks that build tension with techno reverb and glitchy sound effects, you can definitely feel the unsettling vibes!
And by the time you reach the last track of the album, you’ve been through the wringer. The echoing tones and somber mood hit like a gut punch, a fitting end to a journey that’s as emotionally draining as it is artistically profound.
This is not just a normal album, it’s an art piece, a tribute, and a testament to the grueling reality of dementia. We can see how Collin Thomas has poured his heart and soul into this album, and the result is a project that will stick with you long after the last note fades.
