London-based producer Facta, aka Oscar Henson, has released his debut album Blush on the label he co-founded Wisdom Teeth. A label that often offers up tracks for a grimy dance, this project is a sign of times, written uncharacteristically quickly (for Facta) over lockdown. More melodic than normal, Henson leaned more into different influences of ambient, neo-classical, dream-pop, Balearic, folk music and beyond.
We get that right from the intro of the album with “Sistine (Plucks).” As the title would suggest, it is built around some strange and echoing plucks that feel like being lost in a large cathedral as colorful light dances across the stone from the stained glass high up on the walls. However, things shift with the next track “On Deck” to a more upbeat carnival-like atmosphere that shows this album won’t abandon the dancefloor, but won’t go as deep into it as some other project might have.
It leads you back into a hypnotic worlds that ebbs and flows with pads, soft drums and fx. The soft bells on “Iso Stream” accentuate what is a dream-like state, while the waves of synths on “Diving Birds” are like watching birds make the plunge into the ocean for food in beautiful synchronization.
“Low Bridge” eventually leads us out of the dream with an ambient outro like walking back home after a long night out as the lights shift from streetlights to daylight. It’s a serene and beautiful listen all the way through, with its danceable moments. But primarily, it is a moment in time of lockdown where time stood still and life slowed down. This is that slow, dreamlike state of everything blending together.
Pick up Blush here and listen to it below via Wisdom Teeth.