Rzekomo’s The Gray Zone of Talk sounds like what might happen if microhouse, ambient jazz, and philosophical existentialism all got trapped together inside a beautifully malfunctioning tape machine. The Polish project’s newest release continues the sprawling 10 times 10 gives 100 series — ten albums over ten years, each containing ten tracks — but don’t mistake the rigid structure for rigidity in sound. This thing breathes. Slowly, strangely, and often gorgeously.
The album’s defining characteristic is its treatment of guitar. Rather than functioning as a traditional melodic centre, the instrument is continuously dissolved through granular synthesis into flickering textures and ghostly fragments. Sometimes it sounds like jazz played underwater; other times like a memory buffering in real time. On “which,” the record’s emotional centerpiece, these processed guitar lines glide over restrained microhouse rhythms with hypnotic elegance. It’s the sort of track that makes you instinctively stare at ceilings for emotional support.
What makes the album particularly compelling is the way it balances complexity with emotional immediacy. The production is intricate — tiny rhythmic details constantly emerge and disappear — yet the listening experience never feels cold or overly technical. “shapes unity” pairs Rhodes piano with unstable guitar textures to create something both soothing and quietly unsettling, while “than that” evolves from introspective minimalism into a flowing rhythmic haze that feels almost euphoric without ever fully exploding. Even the ambient interludes carry narrative momentum, giving the album a sense of continuous psychological motion.
And then there’s the closer, “There is no need to talk about everything,” which deserves recognition for having both the longest title and arguably the biggest emotional payoff. Over an insistent repeating guitar motif, orchestral textures and electronic interference slowly collide before dissolving into calm acceptance. It’s ambitious, a little funny in its seriousness, and unexpectedly moving. Which, honestly, sums up The Gray Zone of Talk perfectly. Rzekomo has created a record that invites deep analysis while still sounding fantastic at 1am through headphones when your brain is too tired to analyse anything at all.
Represented by Decent Music PR, the album was developed with the support of ZAiKS as part of the Creative Support Fund (Fundusz Popierania Twórczości). Purchase the album on vinyl here.