A deeply unsettling collection of airy ambient songs.

The World Without Us is a strikingly beautiful and tremendously dark release that achieves its fullest potential in the instrumental segments. Opening with “Still (I) [Version]”, it immediately brought to mind David Wingo’s outstanding Take Shelter score by presenting something both intimate and suspense-driven. The World Without Us doesn’t manage to achieve those heights again with its remaining seven tracks, though it comes admirably close. Where it falters is in the vocals, which are almost comically eerie.

Put over nearly any other genre of music, the vocals would work, but operating within the confines of the minimal electronic/orchestral ambient genre, it becomes too much and deadens the impact of the genuinely unnerving (and gorgeous) instrumentals. The lone exception to this is the beautiful title track where everything lines up just right. In that moment, every element accentuates another and Glissando show their true potential.