here I Am Today is just the right phrase for this short, intimate album—Max de Wardener’s first full-length on Matthew Herbert’s Accidental label. An autobiographical frame that suits the album perfectly, in 33 minutes, de Wardener moves from the simplicity and wonder of childhood to the confusion of adulthood. Throughout, it all he exalts the fragile beauty of life.

The heartbeats and the distant blurry cloud-chamber bowls of opener “Luster” suggest the musical life within the womb. The little heart stutters shyly in the background, vulnerable but insistent, while great harmonic swaths threaten to overwhelm it. Following it, “Automatic” suggests a baby’s exposure to the world. De Wardener expertly splices tiny chimes and chirps to create a charming new landscape of sounds. As elements are piled onto the track, the beats quickens, as if the child’s pulse is speeding up to absorb everything around him.

“Noises from a Small Planet” is the transition out of childhood and perhaps the album’s best track. He uses the same cloud-chamber bowls as the first track, but now the chimes are slightly more melancholy. The magic of childhood is gone, and its familiar sounds take on a mournful tone, emphasizing its loss. De Wardener introduces another shy beat (he clearly does not want to be lumped with the IDM crowd) along with a chirping synth line, sweeping the sadness from the sounds. Our boy is now optimistic and ready to move on. Low bass drones are introduced for the first time, giving this track a weightiness heretofore lacking. It bridges the cute, tinny world of childhood with the depth of adulthood, without sacrificing the awe and excitement of the former. The world he enters is far more subtle and less obviously happy than that of the first few tracks, but ultimately it is more complex and rewarding.

As the album progresses, de Wardener uses more instruments and electronics to cover the clear tones of the bowls and bells. The tracks clatter and click busily, but deep within them all is a serene pulse that softens the noise. His aesthetic encompasses a wide range of moods and emotions, but they share a common perspective.

It is a perspective of reverence for life and music that is captured best by the recurring motif of the church organ. In a personal, secular context, de Wardener plays on its ecclesiastical associations, lending the mood of awe to his pieces. Where I Am Today functions as a celebration of the intimate moments that create a life. What separates de Wardener from the host of musicians making delicate electro-acoustic music today is that he progresses out of that childhood with a sound that is versatile and unique.