Everyone can agree that some things were just meant to go together, whether it's peanut butter and jelly, Abbot and Costello, or Keanu Reeves and dialogue.  With her debut album Crux, multi-instrumentalist Emmalee Crane is seemingly on a quest to find the natural companion to her ambient/drone sound. Throughout the album, Crane integrates woodwinds, strings, synthesizers and found sounds into her compositions, combining drone backdrops with delicate instrumentation in an attempt to craft a unique sound all her own. 

The first, and most unconventional, pairing is prominently featured in the album's opener, "Stair Asterism."  Blending gentle woodwinds with drone, Crane discovers a majestic grouping that is as beautiful as it is inventive. Undoubtedly the highlight of the album, the song is a breath of fresh air for a genre seemingly inundated with redundancy.  Though it appears that Crane's search might as well be over before it really starts, the ensuing songs contain a number of other combinations worth noting.  The synthesizer in "Silver Blue in Solomon" succeeds in painting a deeply poignant landscape that will evoke memories of remorse within the listener.  Pairing that same reserved synthesizer with a rambling piano makes for a disjointed yet charming arrangement in "You Seem to Reason."  The presence of strings throughout Crux also provides the album with a beauty that at times is juxtaposed with an interesting sense of immediacy, as can be heard in the track "Three Nine Six Twelve." 

After listening to Crux in its entirety, it is arguable that Crane actually cripples herself by revealing such a gem in the first song.  The innovation and creativity shown in the opening track can be seen as a misnomer after the remainder of the album takes on a more conventional sound, which may leave the listener feeling disenchanted. Although Crane's talented instrumentation remains at the forefront of the music, a listener familiar with ambient music may very well get the feeling of having heard it all before.  It almost becomes predictable then that Crane's list of influences features the names of accomplished ambient artists like Brian Eno, Stars Of The Lid, and Tim Hecker.  While her music is not necessarily analogous to that of her influences, it's definitely not as groundbreaking.  I realize it's a tall order to ask an artist to be as innovative as the aforementioned names, especially on her debut album, but Crane displays throughout Crux that she has the talent and imagination necessary to produce truly original material. 

Though Crane's sound might not be as pioneering, it may actually be more accessible.  Admittedly, ambient music hasn't always been my favorite.  It wasn't until Hammock's release of Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow that I truly fell in love with drone. While I was familiar with the band's earlier work, the track "Elm" single-handedly made me aware of drone's ability to capture and portray complex emotions with such minimal instrumentation.  After listening to Crux, I feel the album has the potential to do the same thing for a listener who is unfamiliar with the genre.  With Crane exploring multiple pairings in the album, one of them is bound to peak an interest.  Whether through her graceful use of wind instruments, her emotive synthesizers, or her sweeping strings, some element of Crane's music is bound to resonate with the listener and draw them in. 

-David Boss