Tautology

Experiencing an unexpected tragedy or loss often provokes a period of self-reflection, a time to contemplate one’s own place and purpose in the world. That was true for El Ten Eleven’s Kristian Dunn. When a beloved family member passed, Dunn found his own reflections on life emerging in the music he composed. Those expressions led to the creation of Tautology a sonic meditation on the arc of human life, composed in three parts. Over the course of three discs, Tautology is, in Dunn’s words, “a representation of life from the teenage years, through middle-age, until the end of life.”

The sounds on the album echo Dunn’s own experiences, veering from aggressive metallic riffs to blissful ambient soundscapes. And while there are shared melodies and harmonies through all three records, each one has its own distinct qualities: Tautology I, which represents adolescence, is angsty, aggressive and occasionally depressive; Tautology II is head-noddy and mid-tempo, and represents middle age; while Tautology III, quiet and ambient, represents one’s golden years. Tautology is not a typical rock album, and El Ten Eleven are not a typical rock band.

For seventeen years the instrumental duo of Dunn (bass/guitar) and Tim Fogarty (drums) have flourished outside the accepted norms of rock orthodoxy, releasing eight full length albums and four EPs, and performing over 750 live shows. Utilising inventive arrangements and a masterful use of looping, El Ten Eleven create a sound much bigger than the sum of its parts.

Tracklisting: 

I
Entropy
With Report
Jejune
Moral Dynamite
Division
Lassitude
...

II
Besotted
Shimmer
Nocturne
The Silent Bell That Rings
Half Mast
Queen’s Gambit
Growing Shorter
...

III
Farrago
Caducity
You Are A Piece of Me, You Are a Piece of Her
Aubade
Let's All Go Out Like Francis
Senescent
All of This Bliss Doesn’t Come Without a Price

RIYL: Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, Do Make Say Think, Mogwai, Russian Circles and Minus the Bear.