Album Review: silent collision's Air Vent Lullabies is a Cathartic Ambient Journey

If there's a single word I need to use to describe silent collision's new EP, Air Vent Lullabies, then that's easy. Cathartic.

providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions

Spanning across 6 carefully designed compositions, the Oklahoma-based producer invites listeners to explore the beauty of the music that hides in plain sight. The sound of life around us.

"Air Vent Lullabies began with a very small, very ordinary moment. Lying awake in the middle of the night, stretched out on the floor of a quiet hallway, listening to the hum of an air vent. There is something deeply comforting about that sound. It is constant, unbothered, and strangely musical. In those moments, the air vent does not feel like background noise. It feels like the perfect song for exactly that time of night", Austyn elaborates.

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That alone told me I was about to step into a sonic space that felt deeply personal to the artist, yet strikingly familiar to me. I love the quiet hours of the night and often, if I wake up in the middle of the night and stare at the boulevard across my apartment building and just listen to the ambiance of the world out there. While often empty, every once in a while, I'll spot a random person passing by. I always wonder why they're out and about at that time and what their story is. I used to do this a lot more often when I was single, but even now, when I'm married, I get to experience those little moments, often soundtracked by a record from the ambient/drone space.

Air Vent Lullabies is built upon the foundation of the air vent, that quiet collision speaks about. Through imagination and careful manipulation, he filtered, stretched, and sculpted those sounds to reveal resonant frequencies and grounding tones that feel both calming and immersive. This approach is most explicit on "Empty Hallway, 4:14am," where the song's central element is the unadorned hum of the air vent, breathing quietly through the mix, but I highly recommend listening to the full EP without interruptions.

Don't expect anything complex from this EP. Its beauty lies in its simplicity, and its simplicity derives from the artist's ability to use the sound around us to create a magnificent sonic universe. From glitchy downtempo electronics ("Look At The Sky") to cinematic lullabies ("Darkness Within Darkness"), this release is designed for the quiet hours when the world finally stops asking anything of you.

I'll be honest - as soon as I saw silent collision and all the info that came with Air Vent Lullabies, I recognized him from another moniker. I did not expect the sound that came out of my speakers and while I already was a fan of his music, this whole thing elevated my respect for Austyn to a whole new level.

Air Vent Lullabies is a cure we all need in a world where everything and everyone fights for our attention. 15 minutes and 43 seconds of minimal elegance.