Tranquil Trucking Company - Theme For Life FLAC

'Theme For Life' is an instrumental track drenched in cinematic ambience - washes of dreamy Eno-does-sci-fi synth textures, elegiac circular piano motifs, delicate melodies and a dense pulsing rhythm complete with sludgy dub bass. Midway through, Curtis weighs in with some searing white hot guitar fuzz layers that increase the intensity of the track several-fold. In part it's introverted tinkling and musing and on the other a defiant 'fuck you' statement toward the concept of conformity; don't ask me why, but that's how it feels to me. In the Asquith back catalogue there are few - if any - tracks like this, highlighting a distinct musical dexterity on his part, as well as pointing to a possible career change into soundtrack composition, much like Soundwave contemporaries Pop Will Eat Itself's Clint Mansell's post-PWEI gear change.



Over on the B-side, the the Optical Implant mix of Theme For Life opts for greater deployment of Curtis's guitar and features vocals from Asquith. The lyrics here are essentially hopeful, Asquith singing 'She said it's gonna be alright,' which an insistence and slight wobble in his delivery, as if suggesting these are the platitudes proffered reflexively in an effort to sooth and calm, with the wavering in his voice suggesting he doesn't quite believe it. Judicious use of echo, on both Asquith's drifting musings and the more prominent beat gives this a dub sensibility, particularly with the guitar stuttering through the mix. 'Low-Fi Oceanic Beauty', created by Asquith and DragonBass accomplice Drostan Madden, would later evolve into the vocal track 'Ocean' with Lee Simeone. Here the track is an instrumental, complete with washes of deep ambience, pulsing but not intrusive basslines, delicate piano notes and the kind of oceanic, immersive effects beloved of early 808 State. A thin, reedy melody runs through the piece, a relaxed, serene cluster of notes that shimmers beautifully like sunlight on a calm, gently-rippling sea.