Canadian electronic producer Michael Silver is known by his stage name CFCF after the news channel based in his hometown of Montreal. He has recently released his second full-length, an electronic album inspired by his traversing from New York to Montreal and back. CFCF was influenced by Peter Gabriel, causing a subtle prog rock sound to be heard.
“Beyond Light,” the ethereal opener, is purely instrumental and gives the listener a taste of what’s to come. The most radio-ready is without a doubt “This Breath,” with its full verses and choruses. It oddly relegates the electronic music to the background, using it only as support. A slowed down version of Gabriel’s own “In Your Eyes” is brought to mind on “The Crossing,” but with added percussion instruments and the sound of rain. The album is dotted with entirely electronic songs, but not as interludes. These tracks give the impression that they were instead intended to be the main focal point of the release. The vocals seem almost like a distraction, like on the closer, “Walking In The Dust,” which features only whispers for the majority of the song.
Outside begins and ends without words, and it seems like that is what CFCF does best. When he does focus on only the instrumentals, he creates something transcendent and dreamlike. Although he puts his voice in the foreground on this record, it does not necessarily pay off. While experimenting is a job requirement of all musicians, CFCF has already found what he does well and should stick with it.
In A Word: Whimsical
