Emeralds What Happened

Emeralds' What Happened is an extension of pioneering krautrock a la Cluster and Neu! and the early electronic experimentation of Marcus Belgrave, Tod Dockstader and Edgard Varèse. Regardless of the well-trod path the band follows, this album is an excursion into the unknown. What Happened is much more enlightening than a mere rehash of the past.

Like previous Emeralds releases, a bed of glacial drones harnesses the five-track What Happened. Here, though, the atmospheric serenity of the group’s previous undertakings are magnified by swirling synthesizers and plentiful electronics. The supplementary instrumentation does busy-up Emeralds' resonance, but the band pulls it off with majestic ease, without sounding cluttered or out of control.

Review by Conor Walker