Ike Zwanikken blesses Theory Therapy with a near-fathomless album of spellbinding soundscapes and mutable ambient frameworks. The Naarm/Melbourne based musician has been making music for over a decade now. In that time, he’s gathered a reputation for his attention to detail, both as a producer and mastering engineer. On Greed Gave Me A Lily, he explores some of his most intimate material yet, in which both rhythm and texture play equally important roles.
Across 8 tracks, Zwanikken pulls listeners into a slipstream of hypnotic loops, dense low-end and foggy atmospheres. Although many of the tracks twist and turn in different directions, an air of stillness and solitude pervades the album. A distant voice traces the contours of “Cain” – likely the most hypnotising track Zwanikken has ever made – while gossamer vocals linger in the distance of “Greed Gave Me A Lily, Peace Gave Me No Chance”. These occasional utterances suffuse the album with a sense of yearning and melancholy – moods which reverberate throughout the entirety of the release.
Zwanikken has already put out a handful of much-loved albums, both as a solo artist and alongside Brooklyn Mellar as one half of Hysterical Love Project. Greed Gave Me A Lily though, might be his most beautiful release to date, one that reveals more with repeated listens.