Underrated Silence

In 2009 Ulrich Schnaus joined shoe gaze outfit Engineers and 2012’s Underrated Silence was a swooning, romantic, hybrid collaboration between Schnauss and Engineers bandmate Mark Peters. Part melodic, ambient electronica, part starry-eyed shoegaze/dream pop, its ten tracks meander pleasantly through blissed-out, drifty electronic reveries, the percussion largely reduced to reserved, moderate synthetic tics and pulses quietly tucked away in the mix while clouds of electronic chords swoop above. Peters’ guitar parts — sometimes redolent of folk in tracks like The Child or the Pigeon, at other points tremolo’ed and twangy indie-style — bring a new element to Schnauss’ sound, the familiarity of the guitar sound sometimes lending a more pop flavour, while at other times it’s hard to distinguish what among the circling pillowy chords, soft chimes and shimmering pads was generated by guitar and what came from a synth.