“Is this what it’s like to be free? I can’t touch anything I see…”
Veinmelter is the Nashville-based music project of multi-instrumentalist Winston Harrison. Following graduation from music school in Miami, Harrison began his career in music as a bass player in a rock band; but then his artistic direction took some new twists and turns.
New inspiration was unexpectedly born when Harrison encountered Brian Eno’s album Music For Airports (released 1978). Harrison developed an appetite to explore and create ambient music; sonically free soundscapes. This fall 2020 has seen two new releases from Veinmelter: All the Waves (Oct 16/20) and the piece featured here To Be Free (Nov 6/20) from the November released debut EP Still In The Air.
Veinmelter’s sound has been described as “textured”, “cinematic”, “mesmerizing”. It’s all of those and more. Harrison artfully weaves and layers sound upon sound, a modular overlapping of gentle pulses, warm synthesizers, and dreamy effects. No attention to detail is spared in Harrison’s creations; every sound plays its part to create a sonic metaphor of freedom and mood of boundlessness. The appealing pitch, poetry, and vulnerability of Harrison’s vocals are another instrument fluidly woven into the tapestry of sound we experience in To Be Free.
In a description of the approach and intention behind the music, Harrison is “always searching for the right texture to evoke all the feelings that do not make it into words, but sometimes sounds awaken words.” For me, the overall effect is strangely both lulling and exciting. I’m glad to have met Veinmelter’s creations at a time like this and I’ll be using them to influence my personal ambiance during lockdown. When things feel stagnant in my space, I plan to infuse it with Veinmelter.
