Jérôme Deuson’s seventh album as “Amute” or “aMute” is an organic collection of indulgent, seemingly high-budget post-rock, mostly sombre but infused with a slight sense of optimism in parts.

The title track is the opener, and at 17 minutes, almost half the whole album. Beginning with rumbling piano, strained guitar and sombre, abrasive cello work to generate long post-rock drones, which after four minutes turns into a rather flatter and more predictable bit of post-rock when the drums are introduced, before expanding out into broader atmospherics as vocal noises and spoken word loops arrive after the drums have gone.

The remaining 5 tracks are shorter pieces (comprising 23 minutes between them) but no less expansive, sometimes reminding me of M83 or Ulrich Schnauss works but rendered in a post-rock style. “Dead Cold”, despite its title, ends up being one of the more optimistic-sounding pieces, with its softer acoustic guitar patterns and an end section with the brief cameo of an actual song-like male vocal. “The Obsidian” is a highlight, with its powerful opening and cinematic flavour, while with final track “Maria” we go out with a song, sort of, with the return of a (very low in the mix) and a folksy acoustic guitar that by the end borders on busking music- but not in a particularly strong way.

It’s a tightly-produced and self-contained exercise in thick moody low frequency atmospherics rendered with a broad variety of instrumentation, but ultimately it’s in a crowded market and there’s a danger this release will just wash over you rather than snagging at your heartstrings.