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I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of this EP from The Sleeping Cliffs, the absolutely stunning post-rock solo project of Virginia-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, and all around virtuoso Todd Glidewell.   

The catalog Glidewell has built in only three years is mind-boggling. There seems to be no end in sight, either, as Decomposition represents a gorgeous and expansive new document, both of Glidewell’s seemingly limitless talents and the artistic flexibility that his nom de plume offers.

This 5-song EP comes in at just under 14 minutes, and despite its digestible run-time it feels like it has the scope of a Russian novel.

So much of what The Sleeping Cliffs does serves as a meditation on the act of composition itself, the lack of lyrics diverting your attention more carefully to the decisions Glidewell is making, the roads not taken, the art of arrangement, the rise and fall of various elements in the mix.

Witness the way “Ox Bone” offers you a tour through the musical phrases that form its backbone, and then immediately starts deconstructing them.

You won’t find many offerings in the world of instrumental music that are as sonically overpowering, as intellectually stimulating, as demanding of proper attention paid, as The Sleeping Cliffs. And Decomposition is among the best work they’ve ever published.

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