Third full-length CD (and sixth overall official release) for the excellent solo project by Derrick Stembridge, handler and owner of Chicago-mail from the same Labile Records. Described as “a suitcase full of life + sounds, the experience of skipping stones across the waves of sound”, the new work environment best summarizes the tone of “Truth” (2006) and electronics more rich and varied tradition of following ” fällt “(2007), embracing influences and downtempo IDM wide-ranging scheme to rebuild without pre accomplice excellent work on the quality of the melodies and the depth of sounds chosen, enhanced by a truly excellent production. Certain vowels disappear sporadic raids of the past, while the rhythmic impact is most significant, reveal just how unwieldy and episodes full of changes – including rhythmic, with great delays – such as “Phonetic Reversal” and “August”, but the ability to Derrick goes beyond the mere construction of evocative soundscapes, capturing the various moods quite naturally, as in melancholic and darkeggiante “Rorschach”. The tracks flow smoothly and the work grows in intensity: the harmonious and kindly sumptuous “Broken Orchestra” reveals a compositional approach that guides and layers sounds like a conductor directs the musicians, where “Existence” is the more muscular side of Drifting In Silence, jitters between IDM and a groove that creeps under the skin. In the more than 10 minutes of “Tremer” the American artist reiterates his great talents as an arranger and sound manipulator, giving a pearl modular environment with great sophistication, including piano notes extremely rarefied but meaningful way, with “Fixer” the comeback groove, but the refined sounds and wonderful variations within each track are the real edge over our own, able to breathe due to the thickness at all times. Rounding out the work of the excellent environmental tones of the title track, another example of exquisite modulation of ethereal sounds and sparse. “Lifesounds” is undoubtedly the album of maturity for the American composer, and with it – and the attention of the finest palates – you clip the place it deserves in the elite sought more emotional and electronics.

- Roberto Alessandro Filippozzi

[Darkroom Magazine - Lifesounds Review]

From the title and the press release that came with the CD, I was expecting new age music suitable for a strictly platonic massage. What I got was a soundtrack for an epic sci-fi film that’s yet to be made—the synth-soaked grandeur of Blade Runner meets the big-beat swagger of The Fifth Element. Unlike a lot of “ambient” albums, it simply never gets boring. Synthesist and composer Derrick Stembridge is a master of his craft, and Lifesounds is way hipper than anyone intended. – Stephen Fortner

Sonic ambience.  Industrial clashes.  Instrumental grooves.  Dreamy shoegazing.  Droning beats.  Lifesounds, the fifth album from experimental composer Derrick Stembridge, is a unification of genres all orchestrated into dark, heavy electronica.  The project, named Drifting in Silence, is perhaps most accurately labeled with Stembridge’s own description – post-ambience.  And for the first time, Stembridge has included vocals on several songs, vocorded to a healthy degree that only compliments those ambient, industrial grooves.  With all these elements present listeners will experience a distinct feeling of movement, a kind of soaring through dreamscapes, hence the name Drifting in Silence.  It’s not often we see a classically trained artist exploring territories claimed by the most avant-garde, but when we do the degree of polish is outstanding. Lifesounds is interesting, and it marks new territory for the genres.  Fans of ambience and industrial electronica will appreciate.

— Robin Cripe

[Reviews and the Rest: Lifesounds Review]

Incorporating a wide range of genres (post-industrial, shoegaze, drone, experimental, IDM) and exceeding at each with a careful balance, Drifting In Silence unleashes what may very well be the quintessential life sounds the title depicts. This being the fourth proper album, DIS have matured since Fallto (2009) with the amalgamation of more live instruments and layers upon layers of peculiar sound bytes dripping from the canvass.

Derrick Stembridge, the force behind DIS has described his view of genre-mixing; “The goal is to create an environment where all of these types of music can live together (like stones skipping across waves of sound). That’s why I went down the path of genre mixing.” This analogy couldn’t be any closer to the truth as Lifesounds creates more of a visual platform for the listener to absorb; the ambient moments pulling you in just as chiseled beats begin to take shape. It’s all quite inspiring as DIS takes you from one end of the spectrum to the other, gradually.

With that in mind, it takes a few listens to properly digest this full length due to its scope of sound; there are even a few moments of obstruction as one particular style keeps you locked in just as another is introduced. Descriptive audio chapters are prevalent on Lifesounds reading like a novel advancing from one short story to the next. Time shifts and drifts silently, almost transparently, as atmospheric undertones glide alongside their percussive counterparts. Raw, sheer power is expelled in unison with more tranquil and emotional mind benders; cold beats are coated with warm melodies and time just slips away as this long-player presents the finest moments from a melting pot of genres that clearly encapsulates sound, vision, art and life. Lifesounds is all the above, meshed with all that resides below the surface.

[Igloo Magazine Lifesounds Review]

Based in Chicago, multi-instrumentalist and composer Derrick Stembridge has taken a step back in time with Facewithin. It sounds like Depeche Mode must have been a big influence on his formative musical years, such is the way he uses rhythm and darker synths to create these 6 tracks (plus 3 remixes).

Twinkling melodies hang in the air over industrial tinged rhythms in ‘Misunderstood’, while the not dissimilar title track adds some distorted android vocals and dials up the murky acid beats that Leftfield turned to on their Rhythm & Stealth album a decade ago. The synth washes and subtle techno hints show a composer bringing together the favourite parts of his record collection.

Stembridge does a nice job on ‘Coming Up For Air’, with its stuttering bass synth and Field-like sweeping synthetic strings. He shows a soundtrack approach to the emotions and mood in his songs and in ‘Virus’ he adds some effect-laden guitar and more Underworld robo-voice, generating some nice rise and fall moments.

‘Facewithin’ is the strongest track on the EP, hence its reworking via 3 remixes. The Drev Remix filters the song through a digital blender, separating and scattering the bytes across the speakers. It resembles digital spray and amps up the industrial aspect of ‘Drifting In Silence’, veering toward Nine Inch Nails territory. The Her Odd First Remix doesn’t head down any new paths but paints it with a 70s analog brush and goes all Kraftwerk on us. The final Anthony Baldino Remix serves up some tasty deconstructed dubstep with razor sharp sliced notes skittering in all directions. The rave buildup mid track works brilliantly, holding everything mile high before rapidly losing altitude back into the blips and beeps.

Facewithin is a good mix of old and new electronica styles, nicely woven together in a fairly dark setting. Fans of Photek, Cabaret Voltaire and Underworld will all find something to appreciate on this solid release.

— Chris Familton

Link to review

Once again, I give my recommendation to listen to this music wearing headphones, or anywhere acoustically ideal where you can be drenched and surrounded by sound, such as a long drive home in the car, or a ride on your public transportation of choice.  This ambient music, driven by funk and industrial rhythms, deserves active listening, or at least a dance floor setting where the audience is paying fairly close attention to the music.  If you like deep trance, drum and bass, and other similar genres, and artists such as Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and Aphex Twin, Facewithin will fit in nicely to your DJ queue.  The album has 5 tracks with 3 remixes of the title track, so it’s clearly meant to be danced to, as well as a means of sonic escape from the world outside.  Overall, the album has a somewhat mellow feel, but there are regular upbeat tempos to get you in the groove.

longthenight is a side project by Stembridge, and a self-titled album was released March 31st.  I would say this material has more of a New Age feel, with acoustic piano solos and guitar riffs set to warm electronic sounds.  It was recorded during the same session that Facewithin was, which I would say is pretty demonstrative of Stembridge’s ability to explore a wide musical range.  longwithin might not appeal to all of the same audience that Drifting in Silence does, but it follows the musical tradition of greats such as Brian Eno, Vangelis, Harold Budd, and Tangerine Dream.  The music is definitely more contemplative and has a very meditative quality to it.

Both albums are on the Labile Records label and physical CDs can be purchased from their website here (Facewithin) and here (longthenight).  Music can also be purchased online through iTunes.

Link to Review

Who? Drifting In Silence are the brainchild of composer/multi-instrumentalist Derrick Stembridge.

Sounds Like? Facewithin mixes together several genres of electronic music, but mostly it draws from ambient and industrial. Stembridge’s tunes are rich with texture, giving his intricate soundscapse tons of delpth.

How is it? It’s good. Fans of The Saint soundtrack will totally dig this.

ROCKS LIKE: FLUKE, APHEX TWIN, ORBITAL

ALTERNATIVE PRESS: Facewithin Review June 2009

Link to review