Blamstrain :: For All The Dreamers In (Self-Released)

Each track melds gracefully into the next and the wide variety of styles are well paced, providing atmospheric peaks and troughs that will pull you through to the end before demanding you rewind for another listen.

In marked departure from the dubby excellence of previous EP Sunday Dub, Juho Hietala changes up not just his writing process but also overall sound. Whereas previously he’d locked himself into a rigorous writing methodology of time vs restricted sound palette this release sees Hietala properly letting loose across all manner of influences. The result is wide exploration of sound—with a particular slant on switching between expansive ambient and much heavier percussive led material that spans multiple musical touch points.

From the opening delicacy of “Auroras and Fireflies” things cutely segue into an uptempo Varia remix of “Bazzie and Me”—a kind of hybrid Chvrches / M83 instrumental throbber. “Friends” follows in epic style as staccato vocal samples and kettle drums tease a huge drop that never quite arrives. Conversely “Goldenflow” is resplendent with field recordings and gentle pads before slipping into a low slung psyche trance which explodes into a surprising new direction of gorgeous Detroit-y tech/disco. I certainly wasn’t expecting that! “Nightcruiser” fixes tumbling arpeggiations across a thrusting progressive house 4/4 surrounded by deep spacey atmospherics whilst “Lake, Storm…Sun” and “Swish” close things appropriately with almost 20 minutes of undulating synth ambiance and field recordings.

Hietala describes this as ‘for me, the best work I’ve ever done’ and actually includes a few round of applause field recordings to perhaps convey how chuffed he is. And rightly so too. An enormous amount of care and attention has gone into For All The Dreamers In. Each track melds gracefully into the next and the wide variety of styles are well paced, providing atmospheric peaks and troughs that will pull you through to the end before demanding you rewind for another listen. Excellent stuff.

For All The Dreamers In is available now here.