On its third album Void Vanishing, the duo of Mike Netland and Catherine Quesenberry continues to create uniquely Qurious atmospheric sounds. The dreamlike electronic soundscapes Netland conjures are the perfect backdrop for Quesenberry’s sleepy vocal delivery, which sounds as if it’s being emitted from some distant place only to float in at the perfect moment.
The allure begins with “Gaida,” an enchanting cacophony of organ and ethereal singing that melds right into “Wunderkammer,” with its more distinct beats and lyricism. “Rubies” pulsates out of an atmospheric abyss to gradually become one of the album’s most pop-structured songs before dissipating into an airy breakdown that flows right back into the song’s framework.
Much of Void Vanishing (namely songs like “Gears” and “Rima”) are reminisent of nursery rhymes sung by a fairy while “Gold” and “Termina” have a Devo-meets-Kraftwerk urgency that provides something more upbeat than the rest of the album. But whether it’s the ambient instrumentalism of “Pactolian” or the abstract arrangement of “Rima,” Qurious is adept at aural experimentation always on the verge of evaporating but never completely fluttering away. Much like those lucid moments between sleeping and waking, Void Vanishing‘s electronic pulse is always pumping just enough to keep Quesenberry’s feather-like afloat.