HELPLESS SPECTATOR (VINYL INC DLC)

LP pressed on virgin vinyl and packaged with with free
download card.
Umberto is an artist whose work is distinctly cinematic.
Composer Matt Hill's performances and delicate compositions taken
together have the cumulative ability to surprise. Hill, whose Umberto
moniker is an homage to director Umberto Lenzi, is an experienced
and active film composer, most recently scoring the film All That
We Destroy. In addition to film and commercial work, Umberto has
released a number of lauded solo recordings. On Umberto's Thrill
Jockey debut Helpless Spectator, his haunting music is otherworldly
and affecting alike, leaving the listener with an unsettling and
profound air of mystery.
Umberto's early recordings harken back to classic synth-driven scifi and horror soundtracks. Helpless Spectator uses synthesizers in
an entirely different manner. Cold, looming monolith tones are now
warm, softer pads that envelope the listener while guitar, cello, banjo
and pedal steel add movement and light. Still, Hill unsettles with his
arrangements and melodic phrasing. Unexpected shifts and turns in
even the most tender movements of Helpless Spectator are inflected
with a contemplative melancholy and fragility.
Umberto makes masterful use of varied textures throughout the
album, blending supernatural effects and grounded instruments
to create distinct atmospheres. Helpless Spectator is inquisitive
and moving in equal measure, an album of somber elegance and
delicate arrangements whose cumulative effect of unease is entirely
unexpected.

'Matt Hill''''s work as Umberto carves out its own
niche with a blood-dripping machete, echoing
soundtracks to Suspiria and John Carpenter
films.' - Consequence of Sound