Flica: Acceptance
Flica

While Euseng Seto's Flica releases often appear on Schole, he's elected to self-release the EP Acceptance. No matter: there's no discernible drop in quality from his many Flica recordings on Schole. A note accompanying the release announces that 2021 will be a productive year for the Malaysia-based Seto, which suggests that the four-song set will be followed by another in the not-too-distant future. Like many an ambient-electronic artist, he perhaps found his creative energy increase during the past year when COVID-19 curtailed social events and gatherings.

A stoical response to the global pandemic is intimated by the EP title and the oft-serene tone of its material. Rather than surrender to hopelessness and despair, Seto promotes peaceful acceptance of the way things are and a levelheaded response that will ultimately allow us to bring the virus under control and move forward. The dignified opener “Fate” exudes an affecting sadness in its gentle blend of electric and acoustic guitars, piano, and synthesizer textures. Acoustic guitar arpeggios and a slow lilting rhythm establish a lulling atmosphere that Seto expands on with a downtempo electronic beat that grows heavier as the track progresses. If “Fate” conveys uplift and hope more than resignation, “Lief” does much the same in using its acoustic guitar and loping beat pattern to cultivate a swoon-inducing languour. Whereas electronic beats and ambient guitar textures in “Presence” align Flica to producers such as Manual, The Remote Viewer, and others of similar ilk, the peaceful tone of “Acceptance” encourages listeners to exit the release with hope in their hearts. One could broach the EP as an eighteen-minute respite from the pandemic-related gloom that has so relentlessly enshrouded our lives during the past year.

June 2021