Hidden Shoal Recordings today announced the digital release of the album Lava by German experimental ambient artist Markus Mehr.
Lava holds true to its title – it is a dense surge of glue-think sound, making new paths as it pushes through the landscape. But, after any destructive force there is new growth. Green shoots of melody arc out of the surface and populate the terrain as new possibilities emerge. A new master of heartbreaking ambient drone has arrived. These tracks evoke time spent transfixed, gazing through a giant looking glass, waiting wide-eyed as new discoveries are revealed in the album’s textured contours.
On epic opener ‘Agenda’, layers of gorgeous synth gradually accumulate into a gloriously massive chord. On single ‘Hubble’, a bedrock of fuzzed drone is decorated with glistening counter-melodies, tracing shards of light across the coal-black skies. ‘Softwar’ builds and then falls away, only to return with a spine-tingling theme that crumbles under its own majesty.
Lava’s ability to both suspend the listener in its abstracted liquid vapours and at the same time imprint its affecting narrative is a special thing. It is one of those albums whose emotional impact stays with you long after you feel its last touch.
Lava is now available in all digital formats through Hidden Shoal Recordings and all good digital stores. The album will see its physical release on 22 July. Buy the album here and read a full press release here.
Markus Mehr – Softwar Markus Mehr – Softwar