"each song glimmers with the duality of untethered freedom, while simultaneously remaining firmly grounded"
Naturally, as an artist moves forward in their career, each successive song is the cumulative evolution of their craft, and in its own way, each song is a time capsule that preserves who they were in that moment. For melodic house duo Ossama Al Sarraf and Ned Shepard, who form Sultan + Shepard respectively, Circle In Time: The Trilogy embodies this concept in its entirety.
As it suggests, Circle In Time: The Trilogy is the product of three projects that first began with the 2021 release of Something, Everything, followed by 2023’s Forever, Now, and ending with 2024’s Endless, Dawn.
Chronologically starting with 2021’s Something, Everything, the album begins with faint percussive elements that quietly emerge from the background. The steady build up makes room for an overwhelming rush of warm, haunting notes that erupt into a pure torrent of ecstasy, a pattern that trails across the album. In songs where vocal features appear, they’re woven in delicate stitches between the fabric of synthy textures, always working in tandem with the production without ever oversaturing the sound.
With the completion of Circle In Time comes the addition of three new songs that rounds out the first third of the album: “Close Your Eyes,” “Behind Her Eyes,” and “The Reef.”
“All the times I bruise / I don’t feel it / Close your eyes / We’re already there.”
Richard Walters, previously featured in “Solid Gold Love” and the titular “Something, Everything” forms the “spiritual core of the album” according to Sultan + Shepard in a social media post, and he reappears on “Close Your Eyes” with a stunning and emotional performance in the soft respite that begins halfway through the song. “Now I’m going home / Back to my own place,” he sings, steadily climbing up the scale. It all comes to an apex as he croons in a falsetto, “All the times I bruise / I don’t feel it / Close your eyes / We’re already there.” The lyrics, production, and the vocals all blend in a delicate, soulful expression that’s palpable throughout the duration of the song.
“Behind Her Eyes” follows after “Close Your Eyes” in the tracklist, acting as a “B-side” counterpart. Its poignancy comes from the melancholy it’s able to elicit from instrumentals alone, telling a whole story shaped by love without ever needing to utter a single lyric. Its impact is even more powerful, knowing that it was written during a particularly sensitive time period of Al Sarraf’s life while his mother was in the hospital with cancer.
The steady build up makes room for an overwhelming rush of warm, haunting notes that erupt into a pure torrent of ecstasy, a pattern that trails across the album"
As the album progresses, the songs from Forever, Now appear next. The album starts with a more uplifting sound before transitioning with more somber songs like “Making Time,” “Elenore,” and the standout, personal favorite, “Maybe I Was,” where the notes flicker with a quiet intensity as though they’re distant stars. But even between the somber moments, the album is shaped by other moments of unfettered radiance, especially through its eponymous track.
The new additions to the album explore the duo’s range as they branch out into new sonic terrain. “Hypercycle” is laced with a futuristic ambiance, leaning on heavy thumps of techno while retaining the warmth that every Sultan + Shepard song brings. “Look For,” in particular, feels like the conclusion of a set, knowing you just witnessed something monumental, and hails down elements of garage house alongside swelling progressions. However, “No Way Back” with Shallou marks a return to form. The lyrics, while simple, echo one of Circle In Time’s core themes with direct clarity: “Take your time / It’s all that you have to give / Make this life / It’s all that you have to spend.” The song offers listeners space to take a deliberate pause and reexamine what it means to live intentionally with the one life you are given.
Finally, Circle In Time ends with the songs from Sultan + Shepard’s most recent album, Endless, Dawn, and it truly represents a full circle moment for the pair. More so than the previous albums, Endless, Dawn surges with drops that are ever reminiscent of their progressive house roots. Songs like “All I Know” and “En” distinctly follow a more traditional build up to their drops and erupt with a cascade of bright, upbeat sounds. The first half of the album flourishes with a vibrant energy, while the second half of the album creates a more ruminative environment for listeners.
“Memories,” “Lima,” and “Waking Life” appear as the final additions to Endless, Dawn and serve as the closing songs to the entire Circle In Time project. “Memories” with The Kite String Tangle and “Lima” both pulse with the momentum of unyielding energy that’s threaded throughout the album. However, the duo diverges into enchanting drum and bass on “Waking Life,” marking a bold conclusion that’s equal parts beautiful and equal parts electrifying.
One thing is abundantly clear throughout Circle In Time: each song glimmers with the duality of untethered freedom, while simultaneously remaining firmly grounded. It tells a story of what it means to be human – what it means to love, to feel doubt, loss, and all of the complicated emotions that have ever crossed into existence. It’s the same feeling as waking up before the sun creeps above the horizon, inhaling the crisp summer air, and knowing that in that hushed moment, you are here and you are alive.
“We always imagined these three albums as one body of work, and putting them together like this feels like the directors cut- a complete story told with all the extra scenes and storylines,” the pair wrote on a social media post celebrating the completion of the album with a vinyl set. And indeed, the project forms a cohesive body of work, flowing from one song to the next, allowing you to feel the full range of emotions earnestly displayed. While the project is a reflection of time and growth for Sultan + Shepard, its strength also comes from how, even as a listener, you can ascribe your own memories through the music, forming it into a soundtrack for your own life.
