Isvisible/Isinvisible : Moon-White Water

On Moon-White Water, Simon Pott’s fifth LP under the name Isvisible/Isinvisible, he seems to find that perfect balance between man and machine. Working once again like a sonic wizard with modular synths, vintage effects, and no overdubs, Pott builds buzzing worlds on Moon-White Water. Despite the improvisational and free-form nature of his work, Isvisible/Isinvisible’s sound feels more connected to melody and song than buzzing electric soundscapes. That is true even more so with his latest, a collection of pop song-length tracks that sound more like Wire, Magazine, and The Cure than Morton Subotnik, Suzanne Ciani, and Wendy Carlos.

I’ve been pretty blown away by Simon Pott’s work, ever since the first time I heard his debut release with Burning Witches Records back in 2018. These noisy, cranky monoliths of tracks that felt just as in tune with the British post-punk scene of the mid-70s as they did with electronic explorations of the late 60s. I listen to his records and just seem to “get” it. I hear a purpose in the circuits and buzzing lights. There’s emotional connection in his work, and previous albums Ghosts Of Furness Vale and Ghosts Of New Mills are very personal pieces of music to Pott. You feel that, despite the raw nature of the music.

With Moon-White Water there’s a sense of pairing down. The songs feel tighter and more direct. Something like the mid-album track “Luna Still” wavers and saunters like a stalking android, buzzing and floating along with purpose. There’s a groove there that is hard not to lock into. Title track “Moon-White Water”, for me, is one of the most gorgeous pieces of music I’ve heard from Isvisible Isinvisble. Under three minutes and you feel as if the universe is opening up for you to see its secrets and mysteries. “Under The Still Lake” slithers like a circuital snake. It’s dark, jagged melody carries you along for this mysterious ride.

Moon-White Water was preceded by a remix album. A remix album for Moon-White Water. Typically the album arrives and then we get the remix album, but due to delays in production a remix record was dropped to satiate our Isvisible/Isinvisible appetites. It was interesting, as we got to hear these songs being sort of reverse engineered before we’d ever heard their original forms and shapes. Hearing them now you can appreciate the remixes even more.

From opener “The Raven’s Head” to the dizzying Soft Moon-sounding “Salt Fire” to the upbeat warmth of album closer “Alchemical Travelogue”, Moon-White Water redefines what a modular synth record can sound like. Pott pulls inspiration from the jagged riffs of post-punk and the meandering scope of Krautrock, while re-interpreting those sounds through flickering lights and miles of wires. Isvisible/Isinvisible once again makes an album of free-form electronics that comes across as melody-driven pop songs for androids going thru an existential crisis.

8.3 out of 10

‘Moon-White Water’ is available now via Burning Witches Records. Buy it here.