David Cordero & Rhucle: So Far, So Close
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Six years after 1987's celebrated Wings of Desire, German director Wim Wenders released Faraway, So Close!, an examination of the differences between the angel figures and humans inhabiting Berlin and the myriad social and political factions within the newly unified city. A sequel of sorts to 2023's Summer Chronicles, the similarly titled second collaboration by David Cordero and Rhucle references both the pronounced physical distance between the ambient producers' respective home bases in Cádiz and Tokyo but also how musically connected the two feel when collaborating. By sending each other tracks and adding to them in their separate studios, the two have developed a file-sharing methodology that for them functions smoothly. As research on social media has repeatedly indicated, technology can be isolating and alienating, but here's an example of it bringing kindred spirits together. The approach worked so well for Summer Chronicles, there was no reason to change it for its follow-up.
It obviously helps that Cordero and Rhucle make music of similar kind, specifically delicate ambient works rich in melody and texture. Each completes the other's sentences, so to speak, on So Far, So Close, the results so seamlessly woven it's impossible to know where one producer's contribution starts and the other's ends. It also doesn't hurt that both are old hands at this sort of thing with years of experience behind them. Rhucle initiated his project in 2013 and has created more than sixty albums to date, while Cordero gives his time and energy to his own work and the running of his ambient music label Noray Records.
A soothing template's beautifully set by “So Far” when fragments of piano fall like raindrops on a softly glimmering base of ambient tones and synthesizer washes. Speckled with shimmering piano, organ, and nature sounds, “Horizontal Line” intones with the gentlest of breaths. The mood is generally one of peaceful calm and contentment, though occasional hints of melancholy and yearning surface during these painterly serenades too. Evoking Buckminster Fuller, “Geodesic” cascades serenely like some forest stream, while the faint crackle accompanying piano and synthesizer in “Interval” suggests a late-night campfire and fond memories of being with others. As if designed to re-emphasize the connection the creators feel when working together, the release concludes with “So Close,” one final testament to the success of their partnership.
Entering and fading slowly, each enveloping setting radiates like warm sunlight flickering through drifting clouds and with every micro-element fit snugly into place. Note that So Far, So Close checks in at a modest half-hour and is thus more mini-album than full-length by album-length standards. It is nonetheless an exquisite collection of fragile ambient miniatures that warrants repeat listening.May 2025