Gacha - Send Two Sunsets

Send Two Sunsets is a the first proper full-length by Berlin's Gacha, and it's a beautiful little piece of electro-ambience. This delightfully soothing set is so meditative, it would not be out of place at a spa or yoga studio. There's nary a moment of harshness to be found, only dreamy, drifting pleasure.

It begins with the stage-setting 'Abandoned City', a brief tune composed primarily of light guitar pluckings drifting across extremely muted pads. This leads into the first vocal track, 'Waterfall', a deep, heavy work of slow synths and airy singing.

There's no subterfuge on this album. What you see is what you get, with straightforward titles like 'Bliss', full of echoing guitars and bass, ultra-spacey ambient effects, and whispery female vocals, and 'Pulsing', with a heavily vibrating bass-synth, accurately describing their contents. The more uptempo moments on the album, such as the jazzy 'Let Me Love You' and 'Street Talk', bring to mind bands like Chicane.

'Duras' is the album's only (minor) misstep, getting more abstract and Orb-like and playing away from Gacha's strengths. But he immediately rights himself on the title track, which possesses a quiet strength almost like that of a marching band.

The album closes with the utterly gorgeous 'Blue Distance', a track that's completely underwater, all rippling synths, echoing, clicking percussion and deep reverb. Unfortunately, like the excellent opener, the track is much too short, making it difficult to fully sink into the depths.

That's really the most disappointing thing about this album: its length, clocking in just over 40 minutes, just isn't enough for such an ambient set. It would have been greatly improved by extending the length of songs here and there, especially the first and last, which tease the listener so briefly.

As it stands, the set is over all too soon. Yet by the same token, a work that leaves you wanting more is superior to one you're sick of before it's over. And despite its brevity, this is the best ambient work I've heard in a few years. It's easy to recommend to fans of the genre, who should be delighted, and it could even make a few converts at the spa.