- The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist goes modular on an extended LP of ultra-deep, trippy and occasionally relaxing synth jams.
- John Frusciante had a marquee 2022 defined by a reunion with his old band. But when the dust settled, he turned to electronic music for something of a soft reset. His role in the new Red Hot Chili Peppers albums Unlimited Love and Return Of The Dream Canteen was to write chords, rhythms and notes as part of a collaborative process. Afterwards, he wanted to build something from the ground up himself. Thus began the process of : I I . (pronounced "two," and also presented in a shorter vinyl version called . I :), a reflective ambient and drone album that offers a different application of his electronic music capabilities beyond the ravey IDM of his retired Trickfinger project.
In 2015, Frusciante said that he makes "music with the express purpose of making sure I'm always learning something, and I'm always attempting things that I haven't attempted before." : I I . is another learning experience. Using either a Monomachine or Analog Four, he set up patches and let them play for long periods of time, tinkering with the machines unhurriedly. Through the patience of this process—simply as a steward of sound—Frusciante has made a deeply meditative and cohesive album.
With several tracks sprawling out at more than 15 minutes, and a nearly two-hour runtime, any complete listen-through will require patience, too. In that extended span, though, the subtle nuances are put under a microscope, and we get to witness the music breathe, feed and decompose. This type of audio life-cycle is most evident in "Frantay," the album's longest cut. The bubbling low-end, made up of tightening and widening loops, morph and overflow into frothing, sometimes acidic puddles. The track pulses with life, seemingly taking on its own sentient state in an almost disconcerting way. But the warm buzzing and soft edges of the music negate any feelings of anxiety.
Still, some tracks, like "Galvation," toy with uncomfortable sounds, like panning static and bristly, high-pitched ringing. When paired with thundering rumbles of what sounds like a failing jet engine, it's not only palatable but mesmerizing. Elsewhere, things get a little sci-fi. The pitter-patter on "Pyn" and "Clank" could be recordings of deep space. The rubberbanding twangs of "Untitled" feel like they're traveling in-and-out of a time-lost wormhole. At its most powerful, : I I . closes out with descending synths that could be the harrowing sound of extraterrestrial spaceships landing on Earth.
John Frusciante has sculpted an array of lifelike ambient music that seeks to take shape in any space it plays in. Like his rock music, this isn't something that you want to play softly in the background. The meticulous process behind creating such a project invites you to examine every little detail, and through his patient experimentation, Frusciante has ensured that every little detail is worth examining. The project boldly asks for 103 minutes of your attention, and it deserves all of them.
Tracklist01. Golpin
02. MK 2.1
03. Pyn
04. Blesdob Dot
05. Unitiled
06. Clank
07. Frantay
08. Galvation
09. Sluice
10. Firpln