Ambient Anachronism is the first solo EP by Des Moines-based musician and activist Keenan Crow, perhaps best known as the director of policy and advocacy at One Iowa, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization. In other words, you can assume Crow has a front-row seat to the special kind of buffoonery current state legislators pile on. Which could be why Ambient Anachronism feels like such a charged sonic salve.
“Politics can get really nasty and claustrophobic,” Crow said. “It’s nice to have something you care about at the end of the day that doesn’t confer any judgment whatsoever . . . ”
Described as a passion project away from politics, one could picture Crow’s tensions of the day melting while crafting “Melanpoly,” the EP’s opening track. At first listen, “Melanpoly” felt right at home on a bookmarked lofi playlist. Which wouldn’t be a knock against it. I mean, I’ve enjoyed many a study and/or relax-to-session. But as it progresses, the song adds textures and soundscapes that pull focus and elevate it above the soundtrack to an all-night test prep session — at least not one in this universe. This is also thanks to Walter and Wagner Caldas, a.k.a. the B2wins, the only guest features present on the EP. It turns out, Crow wears even more hats than previously mentioned, as they entirely produced, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered the rest of this record.
The second track “2-0-2-1” showcases some more of Crow’s multifaceted talents. With fuzzy, reverb-drenched guitar strums, the intro calls to mind the restraint of other instrumental rock acts like El Ten Eleven or Explosions in the Sky, the latter being a group Crow states as an influence. This influence permeates throughout, particularly in the tone and slick finger-picking guitar that takes charge and provides the through line for the majority of the song.
In a presser for the EP, Crow says it “takes listeners on an anachronistic journey that bends both time and genre.” This blurring of genre is perhaps no more evident than in the track “Ivy,” with its foray into 3/4 time and an intro that evokes a waltz by way of ’90s grunge guitar sensibilities. The song builds into a wall of sound through multi-layered guitar licks, the most pronounced of which would be at home in an alternate picking shred guitar tutorial on YouTube.
This section in particular hints at some of Crow’s other musical forays, most notably the band Ariias, the shoe-gaze indie rock outfit in which Crow provides guitar, keyboard and vocals. But as soon as you get comfortable with quantifying and labeling the track, it strips away some of the layers, and the melodic guitar stylings found in “2-0-2-1” again take the lead.
It feels like long-lost theme music to a Castlevania game from an alternate universe, which isn’t the only time I felt like the tracks in this EP evoked some ethereal sound I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The song “Tera” ends on a note that sounds like the closing credits to the edgier, nonexistent show from which Stranger Things was remade.
This liminal musical footing is something I suspect Crow sought to invite their listeners into, especially given the EP’s title. Its explorations are never derivative, but instead a worthwhile set of tracks that are bigger than the sum of its parts.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s July 2024 issue.
