Grouse is a vehicle for the work of Dubliner Ronan Carroll, who honed his style in San Francisco, where he spent over a decade working in various musical styles before becoming, in his own words, “obsessed with dub-inspired downtempo and trip hop.” This, his second album under the Grouse moniker, features his electronic, dub and ambient-influenced creations and productions.
Spacey, hypnotic and chilled-out for the most part, Carroll utilises loops, samples and synths, along with traditional instruments including guitars, acoustic and electric viola, violin and trombone. The nine pieces here range from the Ennio Morricone-like opener ‘Interval’ to the other-worldly textures of ‘Casanova’ and ‘Telegraph’, and the more conventional acoustic guitar-grounded closer ‘Finally’.