Sutro by Christina Chatfield

Picture a skyline. Then, fog cascading down the wooded hills of San Francisco, towards the Pacific. And rising up from that land is a tower — the radio antenna of the Sutro Tower — that reaches upwards like a metal claw, as if to harness all of the power of the sky. That is the image Christina Chatfield’s Sutro conjures and is also its point of inspiration.

Christina Chatfield, based in SF, offers Mysteries an impressive, visionary full-length debut. Abound with polyphonic synth work and immersive tonal structures, these arrangements unfold into lush, cinematic soundscapes. Chatfield has long been a versatile producer with roots in techno, electro, ambient, shoegaze and more — and all of these influences come through in Sutro, creating an album with remarkable power and emotional depth.

At times, tracks like “Nameless,” with its misty vocals layered over hypnotic synth, pay homage to the shoegaze greats. At other points, the album turns retro-futuristic, becoming a sonic rendering of the Sutro Tower itself. In “Pearls Scattered,” for example, an off-kilter synth melody lends eccentricity to an already moody atmosphere. Arguably the most immersive arrangements on the album are “Concatenate I” and its connected successor “Concatenate II,” as well as the richly textured, panoramic track “Drin.” As “Concatenate” derives its name from a linguistic programming concept meaning linking (things) together in a chain or series, it seems natural that the album extends “Concatenate” into two sequences. In both, synth arpeggiation guides the ear through maximalist landscapes accented by lush pads. “Drin” is melodic and sweeping, bringing to mind the ruins of the Sutro Baths, bathed in the glow of afternoon light. “Drin” especially is a microcosmic example of what happens in so many of the tracks on this album: they start quiet and evolve, until it’s clear the silence is teeming with life. The album closes with its title track, which leans into Chatfield’s techno sensibilities; its elegance leaves the ear satisfied. Altogether, the album nourishes and satisfies, for what Chatfield has composed is thoughtfully conceptualized and wholly complete.