The album admits a wide range of textures, field recordings morphed and treated with nuances and displayed with a massive sonic impact—immersing the listener in a vast river of emotions.
Immersing the listener in a vast river of emotions
I discovered this project incidentally back in a time when I used to play materials from Slaapwel Records as meditative background music to end the day in silence with reflective moods. Sonmi451 was part of the projects which made a great impression. Unfortunately, and due to the substantial catalog of music I have to listen to for myself, or for reviews, I forgot to follow their productions. This new album is the occasion to correct it.
Artistically this project got the opportunity to sign releases on renown labels in the world of indie music with a particular interest for downtempo ambient, chilled out electronics, and sonic experimentalism. Published by laaps (a relatively new imprint following the path of Hibernate, Home Normal, Dronarivm) in the defense of introvert, haunting, and shimmering home-made ambient drone music and its derivatives. The compositions of this album are really enjoyable, revealing lush soundscapes with a post-classical flavor, looped minimalist patterns interweaving a vast array of acoustic motifs, and almost glich-esque electronic scintillations which generate a mantra-like invocatory hypnotic feeling.
The album admits a wide range of textures, field recordings morphed and treated with nuances and displayed with a massive sonic impact—immersing the listener in a vast river of emotions. This is not an ordinary and generic / anonymous ambient release, the musical syntax is complex and admits a surprising variety, sometimes with the presence of hyperactive and grooving assemblages between sinuous ostinato motifs and electronic pulses (reminiscent to Raster Noton and Erased Tapes at their most challenging and hybrid assemblage between modern classical and minimal electronica). All in all a softly moving, colorful, dynamic and soothing modern micro-tonal ambient music effort that will ravish fans of Offthesky, The Green Kingdom (et al)—whispering, alluring and dreamily. Another significant publication added to laaps’ already large collection of blissful ambient-ish materials.
Mastered by Taylor Deupree (12k)
Artwork by Maia Flore / Atout France (La Siesta, Argelès 2016)
Design by Sprflxgrfzm
The Eighteen Minute Gap is available on laaps July 13, 2023. [Bandcamp]
