Composer, guitarist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Gregory Uhlmann is not quite a household name, unless you have someone with their ears to the ground in terms of forward-thinking, progressive music living under the roof. Uhlmann has guested on many records over the last several years(including Perfume Genius, Tasha, and Hand Habits), but has also released albums in a collaborative sense with SML, Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes, and a handful of solo albums starting with 2017s Odd Job.
Gregory Uhlmann doesn’t make guitar music. He uses his guitar to create visionary sound worlds, making more ambient, incidental-based musis that is heavy in melody and dream-like purpose. Ethereal sound worlds that are built for exploration and zoning out. He’s been a staple of the International Anthem Recording Co. roster and has made a name for himself as an artist to watch and pay close attention to.
On his newest album Extra Stars, Uhlmann has made a beautifully mysterious record. Songs that feel like minuets in-between dream cycles, there’s a feeling of age, history, and discovering long forgotten memories that are both thoughtful and melancholy.
I’m obsessed with the song “Days”, which you hit five songs into Extra Stars. It feels like stumbling across some long lost relic of your childhood. The music hangs in the air in a cloud of bittersweet emotion. It’s like waking from a dream, still halfway in it as you fight to hold onto what you experienced in that deep sleep. The meditative guitar notes, the humming electronics, and the tinkling piano lines set a precedent that the album thankfully keeps with. In comparison, album opener “Pocket Snail” is mysterious and sleepy in its opening salvo. Echoing tones and synth strings bring us into this album’s atmosphere with grace and medicated gauziness.
Despite no real percussion to speak of, the rhythmic “Lucia” manages to bring the listener under its spell with a repetitive clang and a wavery saxophone courtesy of Alexander DePlume. “Burnt Toast” is short but sweet, putting the listener in a meditative space with alienesque guitar sounds.
We go from the experimental(“Voice Exchange”) to the whimsical(“Back Scratch”) to the blips and beeps of closer “Sugar Water”. Gregory Uhlmann is a sonic force to be reckoned with, and Extra Stars is a masterclass in sound and melodic intent.
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