Fake Empire’s digitally released EP, ‘Fracture’, displays a smorgasbord of ambient textures alongside delicately programmed and continuously shifting rhythmic patterns. Intended initially as a live ambient performance piece for Tauranga’s The Incubator, the project soon developed into a 30 minute EP. Perhaps pushing the term ‘extended’ to its limits by normal musical standards, it sits right at home both sonically, and in its length, as an ambient project. Ambient music pioneer Brian Eno stated that “ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.” ‘Fracture’ is unintrusive, however, it holds on to the listener and keeps them interested. While some melodies and progressions in the EP leave a lot to be desired, they are held together by a wonderfully complex rhythmic section reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s ‘Selected Ambient Works Volume I and II’. An ambient soundscape that has a strong central rhythm, while still remaining true as an ambient piece, is no easy feat, so it is most admirable that this is achieved on the first four of the five tracks, with the final movement being a delicate free-time composition that truly demonstrates Scott Brown’s impressive abilities as a sonic architect. It would have been nice to have some of the soundscapes and melodies develop further. Some of the sounds feel they are trying to take you to a certain place but never quite get there. Similarly, some sounds were begging to take centre stage but were instead just lightly referenced, most notably at the end of the first movement. In spite of this ‘Fracture’ has indeed sparked my interest in future releases from Fake Empire.