*300 copies limited edition* Towards the Nocturnal Sun is the second solo album from Malaysian artist Siew Y’ng-Yin’s Reverse Image. Earlier this year she also had her debut album by her noise project Fallen Sun released by Fourth Dimension. Unlike Fallen Sun’s proclivity for melding uncompromising and often abrasive sounds together with occasional rhythmic undercurrents, Reverse Image’s approach to soundmaking is defined by measured crystalline shimmer, iridescent patterns formed on a Martian sunset, indiscernible clangs, gentle tones weaving in and out of each other, warm textural glaze, vast swathes of dilated hum, and undulating bridges that sometimes hint at the intensity of Yin’s other project.
Ranging from compositions that furrow a moody ambience to others that could either sit easily alongside contemporary academic music or soundtrack a thoughtful (or thought-provoking) film, the nine pieces presented on this album shine a light onto an artist possessed of a deep understanding of her craft and the many wonderful avenues it can explore. Overtly, the material forming this album takes everything on the 2023 debut, The Silence That Does Not Exist, to an even greater height where promises are fulfilled yet continue to suggest many more.