Łabandzi Śpiew: ambient

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sobota, 23 maja 2026

Marielle V Jakobsons - The Patterns Lost to Air (2026)

California-based artist Marielle V Jakobsons has never been posted about on this blog, even though I highly value her previous album, 2016's Star Core. It makes it extremely interesting as what finally brought her here is an album marked by the notion of change and leaving one's comfort zone, which includes the change of the music itself.

The Patterns Lost to Air is a collection of lively soundscapes filled with glimmering electronica and wild, ellusive sounds. When I listen to this kind of ambient, I always picture a meadow on a warm, summer day. Life everywhere, even if not visible at first. It's hard to believe that Jakobsons' best works so far have been droney and dark neoclassical/electronic pieces. It's like the same place seen at night: both beautiful, both showing similar shapes, but inherently very different. And perhaps this is what I like about this album so much: it's a proof that change can be good, especially when you change from beautiful to beautiful.

The Patterns Lost to Air costs 10 USD.

Check: Warm Spring

Country: California, US

Genre: lively soundscape

Label: Thrill Jockey Records

piątek, 24 kwietnia 2026

Stray Theories - Falter (2026)

A curious blend of various slow and atmospheric music genres has been recently served by a New Zealand-based artist Micah Templeton-Wolfe. His solo project Stray Theories is now on the 5th (or 6th according to RYM) album and Falter is a-maze-ing! The thick as fog and moody as hell soundscape takes you to a melancholic but strangely cosy place.

His label advertises the new album as a blend of ambient, neoclassical and post-rock music that is so homogeneous that it doesn't resemble any one of them anymore. And I kinda agree: this music feels like a coherent mass of various things, but when you submerge yourself into the compositions, you don't know what it is around you. And you don't really need to know. The feeling is amazing anyway. You know what's important: the peacefulness, the weight of the sound, the beauty. Yes, this is how I imagine dreaming under a weight blanket.

Another words that appears a lot in the album's description is "cinematic". The soundscapes here indeed don't feel intimate, it's not something between you and the artist, it's so much more. In that way, I can see the reference to post-rock (cause formally there's little in common). And as a post-rock fan, I have to appreciate it.

Falter costs 9 USD.

Check: Lifelines

Country: New Zealand

Genre: atmospheric soundscape

Label: n5MD

Green Horizon - The Place I Buried Memories (2021)

niedziela, 12 kwietnia 2026

Green Horizon - Blessing (2026)

I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but let me repeat myself: one of my favourite ambient pop artists comes from Taiwan and is definitely not well-known enough. Green Horizon has recently released her new EP on which she blends ambient pop with soft neoclassical tunes, everything honest, real and intimate.

The album is meant to be a blessing "for the forgotten, for the unloved, for those in pain" and I must say that the neoclassical beauty of the piano keys that sometimes lead the compositions here but sometimes also drown in peaceful noise are something that has to bring some kind of relief to anyone in need. It doesn't matter if the compositions are mostly piano soundscapes or if they are written around the airy vocals, all of them are beautiful.

I don't know much about the Asian poetry, but to me and to my layman heart, Green Horizon's lyrics feel very much like a rendition of poems form this part of the world. Honest and clearly indicating certain things, but still mysterious. Telling everything without telling everything. Which I guess is true to the music itself.

Blessing costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Path

Country: Taiwan

Genre: piano ambient pop

Green Horizon - 沉睡 (2017)

sobota, 4 kwietnia 2026

Dear Gravity & Raphah - Chronos (2026)

Another transatlantic collaborations in recent months makes it to the blog. This time it's a short EP made by Mike Graff aka Dear Gravity from the States and the artist known as Raphah from UK. It is short, but it's also so beautiful like a drop of dew in the morning sunshine.

As is clearly stated in the EP's title, the main theme of music here is the concept of time. The slow, introspective compositions feel like they are meant to make you experience the time flowing around you, from nothingness to nothingness. But while this concept is dreadful (to me and I'm sure to most people), the artists turn it into a thing of beauty. Thick layers of ambient with occasional droplets of piano sounds always get me. The album's slow pace and beautiful combination of neoclassical and ambient sound is a perfect way to end a day.

Chronos costs 5 USD.

Check: Chronos

Country: Minnesota, US/UK

Genre: neoclassical ambient

Label: Echoes Blue Music

Dear Gravity & We Dream of Eden - Holocene (2022)

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sobota, 7 marca 2026

Be Still the Earth & Jacob David - sigh (2026)

It is a tiny album, but Marshall Usinger (a.k.a. Be Still The Earth) and Jacob David make up such a breath-taking duo, I had to post a little note on the EP here. The softest of soundscapes is here, made of warm electronica and beautiful piano notes, making the audience feel like listening to literal clouds.

The ambient producer from Colorado and the Danish pianist made sure to create this souondscapes with the warmest sounds: the very subtle electronica is never too loud, never too present, always just enough to employ the listeners' ears. It is not the background for the piano keys either. Rather both, the electronica and the piano sounds coexist within each other, creating one body of sound that waves a little, but always only a little. And even Benjamin Tatlow (a.k.a. Antarctic Wastelands) is here for a second! Listening to these 10 minutes is such an amazing experience!

sigh costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: fold

Country: Colorado

Genre: piano soundscape

Label: slow echo

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Shentov, Simitchiev, Lukanov - Pain and Power (2024)

piątek, 20 lutego 2026

Born Erased - Birds Drink My Blood (2025)

Angel Simitchiev has appeared on this blog twice already but never under the moniker of Born Erased. His dark ambient soundscapes are of the best quality and now this is further certified by the fact that the December album was released by Cyclic Law.

If you wonder what's the deal with the surprising and gory title of the album, its description explains it: the album is inspired by the brutal yet impressive nature of... nature. If you (metaphorically) squint a little, you can hear the album as a distorted soundtrack to documentary movie on the wonders and dangers of [insert any place that is not yet entirely tamed by humans]. Especially the moments where Simitchiev's dark ambient reveals some more ethereal sides (as in Voider). This probably means that, although still in the realm of ambient soundscapes, the tracks here are structured in a cinematic way, making them way more approachable to fans of other kinds of music.

Until, of course, this facade is completely destroyed by the industrial anxiety in Throne of Cages, but I guess it also fits the topic quite well. The nature is brutal, but the humans canbe even more so.

Birds Drink My Blood costs 8 EUR.

Check: Voider

Country: Bulgaria

Genre: cinematic dark ambient

Label: Cyclic Law

Angel Simitchiev & Linus Schrab - Airborne (2021)

piątek, 6 lutego 2026

Mary Lattimore & Julianna Barwick - Tragic Magic (2026)

What can you get when you have an acclaimed harpist (Mary Lattimore) and equally acclaimed ambient pop artist Julianna Barwick in one room (I assume (EDIT: it was a whole philharmonie!) )creating music? Well, exactly what you've expected: pure magic (even if tragic). The two American musicians created one of the highlights of the dawn of this year and filled it with the perfect soundscape.

While I know some projects with harp music (LEYA!), it is still pretty exotic to me. I've seen Lattimore performing live already and harp sounds and subtle electronica make an interesting blend, but I feel like only now, with the addition of ethereal vocals, it is complete. I can't get rid of the picture of tall tree-stacked forest while listening to this album (curse you, fantasy movies!) so it's no wonder this is exactly what the album's cover art features. But there is also a certain amount of ethereal mist and omnipresent melancholia in the air present.

Naturally (sic!), this brings up the hippie, New Age vibes o the picture as well. But, according to the album's description, it is mostly focused on the human nature and inter-human relations. And nature. And the cosmic. I guess you can't escape these. Nevertheless, the combination of ambient pop with the sound of harp is something I did not have on my bingo card for 2026 music, but I'm glad I found it.

Tragic Magic costs 10 EUR.

Check: Perpetual Adoration

Country: US

Genre: harp-based ambient pop

Label: InFiné

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Desolate Horizons - The Vague and Terrible Uncertainty (2019)

piątek, 28 listopada 2025

Desolate Horizons - October Noise (2025)

This is one of the artists who produce tons of ambient music but also every release from him I come across, makes me feel in a very special way. This heavy, overwhelming ambient soundscapes are something you can feel more than hear.

Even if this is not an album, it's just 4 relatively short tracks, it is no different. The sound here feels strange and unnerving, dangerous and overwhelming, but also there is a lot of this airy hope and ethereal pleasure. So it is not a surprise that the musician states the following:"Through this release, I am trying to make sense of life again, and to come to terms with the grief and horror that reality has brought in recent years". What is life if not exactly what the music here evokes?

October Noise costs 4 USD.

Check: An Ongoing Heartbreak

Genre: ethereal soundscape

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czwartek, 9 października 2025

The Deadly Affair - Visions Through the Sense of Silence (2025)

I can't believe that this is only debut from the Chilean band The Deadly Affairs! When I came across it, I was sure it's created by an experienced group and probably a bit too well-known for this blog. This is not the case, even though Visions Through the Sense of Silence makes certainly a well-made and very airy darkwave release.

The image and the vocals scream darkwave here, but the atmosphere of the music around it is far from this genre, way closer to slowcore, dream pop genres. Which, together with the backing vocals make my genre-centered mind go through some unbelievable options including ambient cold wave or ethereal post-punk. I love it. And it's ot only that, the band can create this overwhelming yet calm atmosphere that drags the audience to the ground but also feels very intimate. Like a heavy blanket made of cold wave music. And it's still not everything because they are as swift with ambiance creation as with writing catchy melodies which may sound strange, but Take My Blood is certainly a banger you hum together with the artists.

This "stark and hypnotic descent into brooding atmospheres and unrelenting tension", as it's advertised by the label, makes one of the most promising debuts of the year, regardless of the genre.

Visions Through the Sense of Silence costs 7 USD.

Check: Take My Blood

Country: Chile

Genre: ethereal darkwave

Label: Anything That Makes Light

Hollie Kenniff - For Forever (2024)

sobota, 30 sierpnia 2025

Harbors - When We Are Free (2025)

When two acclaimed neoclassical artists start a new project together, you know it should be good. But when they are also a couple, it's a strong lead that the project will be also very emotional. Hollie and Keith Kenniff created Mint Julep and Meadows before, now they are known as Harbors.

This is my favourite kind of a soundscape: one that feels calm, but also lively. When I know there is many things going on around me, but the whole thing is relaxing and inviting. It's like watching fireflies on a summer night. You are aware that they appear here and there, but it doesn't make the night any less peaceful. And it's the piano keys, they are the fireflies. You have to look for them to appear and then don't lose track of time trying to follow them.

When We Are Free costs 10 USD.

Check: A Portrait of Time

Country: Oregon, US

Genre: lively soundscape

Label: Nettwer Music Group

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piątek, 15 sierpnia 2025

Pan Thorarensen - Ljóstillífun (2025)

Icelandic soundscapes that reflect the country's landscapes just have to be outstanding. It is proven once again on a debut album of Pan Thorarensen, otherwise acclaimed and experienced artist known as a member of the ambient music father-son duo Stereo Hypnosis.

The album is inspired by Icelandic nature which is really not a surprise. I feel like it's difficult not to get inspired by nature living in such a beautiful place. But it's not just inspiration, Pan used field recordings and made an inspiration into music itself. It's literally giving the voice to the nature. Second thing that draws attention to the album is the guest list. And it is really impressive and including artists like Patricia Wolf and Hoshiko Yamane of Tangerine Dream.

The results are calm and relaxing. There is no place for winter storms, it is more about the peacefulness and emptiness. I can't complaint, especially when some wildly beautiful piano keys appear.

Ljóstillífun costs 6 EUR.

Check: Glitský

Country: Iceland

Genre: instrumental ambient

Label: U Know Me Records

Hypnodrone Ensemble - Plays Orchestral Favourites (2018)

środa, 13 sierpnia 2025

thisquietarmy x otay:onii - Howl and Tell (2025)

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The collaboration between two outstanding experimental musician, thisquietarmy (Eric Quach) and otay:onii (Lane Shi) had to bear some exciting and valuable fruits. And, surprise, surprise, it did! Long and spacious, yet deeply intense. Imagine industrial ambient and noise folk music from your beautiful nightmares.

As mentioned on their instagram, the project was born during the 2023 tour that Quach went on in Europe and where Shi was supposed to be an opening act, but quickly got introduced in the main one as well. And I have to tell you, it was rather clear that the two would find a common language. The industrial soundscapes with noisy guitar sounds hidden in the backgrounds, lurking from the shadows fits perfectly with Shi's vocal improvisations that you can feel on your skin. Even when the backgrounds attack the most with the raw and dirty sounds, the vocals are still the most important to me. But maybe I'm just drawn to their uniqueness so much.

This autumn, otay:onii is playing a gig in Warsaw and I'd love to see her live finally. Maybe this will sooth the regrets I have from not going to thisquietarmy's performance at dunk!festival:)

Howl and Tell costs 8 EUR (7 GBP).

Check: Lips Touching the First Word in Sleeps

Country: Canada, China/Germany

Genre: industrial dark folk

Label: Cruel Nature Records

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piątek, 25 lipca 2025

Vetle Nærø - All Moments Must Pass (2025)

From Moments

I know the Oslo-born neoclassical artist's music from 2023's album From Moments. This year, Vetle Nærø is back with even better album filled with piano, soft electronica and tons of self-reflective abilities. It's worth listening to, even if all moments must pass as the title suggests.

The fourth album in the artist's discography is all about intimacy. The soft piano keys and even softer electronica feels closer than the skin. The main theme of the tracks, the airy, ever-changing and never-repeated nature of life can't be more personal for any human being. The omnipresent atmosphere of the tiniest of concerts is the definition of intimacy. Apart for the music, the artist (I presume) published some very wise words on his BC account, saying that "Impermanence is often seen as a source of suffering, as human resistance to change can be a central cause of our pain. Yet, within this very resistance lies the potential for profound growth".

This is the main theme of the piano-driven album. The overall psychedelic/oriental theme is further established with the use of Alan Watts's monologue sample in First You Are Born and titles such as Mantra and any other as all of them are closely connected to the main thought. Everything passes, but somehow we will be ok.

All Moments Must Pass costs 10 EUR.

Check: First You Are Born

Country: Norway

Genre: electronica-touched neoclassical

Label: piano and coffee records

czwartek, 12 czerwca 2025

Concepcion Huerta - El Sol de los Muertos (2025)

Sound textures, audio soundscapes, narratives delivered by notes only. Concepcion Huerta is a Mexican artist whose drones and ambient sounds create an emotional cocktail deeply rooted in her geographical background. The veins of the world are open again, just like the cover art suggests.

This emotional piece was created "entirely within a subharmonic framework and meticulously processed through tape manipulation". It has to be said that not all of the sounds here are gonna be pleasant, in fact, it's quite the opposite: some of the tracks are designed to evoke nightmares of deep undergrounds and the worlds of the dead. There is, however, no notion of morality here I think, described pictures are not terrifying or charming, they just are. It's the truth about the world as seen by the artist and as transcribed into these monumental soundscapes.

El Sol de los Muertos costs 7 EUR.

Check: El Sol de los Muertos

Country: Mexico

Genre: droney soundscape

Label: Umor-Rex

piątek, 23 maja 2025

Hekla - Turnar (2025)

Hekla Magnúsdóttir shares her name with the tallest volcano on Iceland. There's no connection to her music, I just like these geographical-musical facts. The artist herself released her third album this year and frankly speaking, it's gotta be my favourite one of the two which is backed up by the fact that Hekla received a lot of attention recently.

Hekla is a theremin player. I wouldn't be able to hear that I think, the music on the album sounds like it could well be made out of samples and synthesizers, but there is something special about playing such an outstanding instrument. Does it always sound so... dark? Mysterious but mostly ominous? No wonder that her Bandcamp account advertises the album as a "paranormal plane of haunting dread". I can hear the elements of ethereality and cosmic psychedelia, but I feel mostly darkness pouring out of each of the compositions. But maybe it's just the state of my mind. Still, I feel the strength of this music lies in the fact that everyone will be affected in a slightly different way. The only common thing is how beautiful the album is.

Turnar costs 9 EUR (7 GBP).

Check: Í Ösku og Eldi

Country: Iceland

Genre: dark theremin ambient

Label: Phantom Limb

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piątek, 4 kwietnia 2025

Amulets - Not Around but Through (2025)

This is not ambient electronica for easily startled people. The Oregon soundscapes icon brought the next album in his discography this year and filled it with an ambitious take on ambient music: it can be overwhelming, it can feel heavy, but it is always as beautiful and emotionally marked as possible.

The album explores the "process of acceptance and the tumultuous journey of looking within" with mesmerizing soundscapes that may sound nice and kind at the start, but soon enough evolve into a slow-motion avalanche of organ-like noise. A beautiful one too. And this is a common pattern on the album. The music here is a curious kaleidoscope of genres including drones and post-rock and almost anything you can imagine.

And ambient pop. And when Midwife borrows some of her fuzzy magic to an album, you know it has to be good.

Not Around but Through costs 10 USD.

Check: Myriads

Country: Oregon, US

Genre: heavy soundscape

Label: Beacon Sound

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sobota, 8 marca 2025

Julien Demoulin - A Trial of Distances (2025)

There is something special in airy soundscapes that are enriched with sounds of live instruments, especially when the instruments are not that obvious. This is exactly the case with the new album from the French artist Julien Demoulin, who created a dream with a twist.

As the label states, the release provides us with "emotional themes, deep chords of eerie synths and melancholic drones" with inclusion of "lovely brass sounds of trumpet, trombone and flugelhorn, provided by Kelly O'Donohue". The trumpets are really not something I envision in the reverb-filled, ethereal form, quite frankly I seldom envision them in any form. But those soundscapes work so well, I can't deny it. So, without any denying at all, let's sink into the beautifully dense ambient sounds.

Just to mention everything, the album includes also three remixes by some well-known names in the soundscaping world, including our very own How To Disappear Completely from Poland.

A Trial of Distances costs 7 EUR.

Check: A Trial Of Distances Pt.3

Country: France

Genre: brass instruments soundscapes

Label: sound in silence

sobota, 1 marca 2025

Hollie Kenniff - For Forever (2024)

Hollie Kenniff, half of the Mint Julep duo, creates ambient music as a solo musician. The depth of this soft and airy electronica is unfathomed, encompassing both beauty and mystery in its abyss.

Piano keys like flower petals, synthy sounds like a delicate wind and then, there's the background of the compositions: deep, multi-layered, dark. This makes me think of a meadow early in the morning: the traces of the incoming day on the vast canvas of the night that is still close enough to be a little scary. Emotions. As the label describes the album, it "delivers miles of endless bliss" and that's very true. I love it.

For Forever costs 12 USD.

Check: Surface

Country: Canada/US

Genre: multi-layered ambient

Label: Nettwerk Music Group

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