The song is taken from Woods’ forthcoming album NIGHT CRIÚ, arriving October 31 via Sacred Bones Records. Across its seven tracks, the album sees Woods return to lyrical song form, centering her voice in lush layers of harmony. Described as a ceremony of light and shade, the record is shaped by themes of memory, community, and transformation, with brass band and children’s choir adding expansive textures. The whole project was recorded across Ireland, London, Latvia, and the U.S., and mixed by Dean Hurley.

Every decade has its curious musical outliers where a micro-trend gets hot for a few weeks and gains a foothold in the zeitgeist that seems unexplainable in the future. Maybe I’m biased because I was a teenager discovering music at the time, but the ‘90s had the weirdest mix of sounds that somehow became popular. Sure, it’s easy to make fun of how post-grunge led to nu metal, and yes, ska is a convenient punching bag, but it takes a special decade to have Gregorian Chant, Blues Traveler, and Chumbawumba all go platinum. But one trend from that era has experienced a curious resurgence over the past few years, and it’s not one I would have ever expected – New Age ambient.

The stuff was everywhere, and it made zero sense to me as someone who listened to mostly to guitar-heavy alternative rock. Some of it had lyrics (most of which I couldn’t understand because of the pitch and timbre), some of it barely had recognizable melodic structures (because it felt like you were floating aimlessly through the clouds), and it all seemed to feature banks of keyboards, penny whistles, and uncommon percussion instruments. At the time, I couldn’t understand the appeal of acts like Enya and Yanni – where were the guitars, angst, and energy?! – but now, after more than a decade of deep dives into various strains of experimental electronic music, I totally understand why people both make and enjoy this genre.

So when I came across Oceans of Time, the new album from German-Brazilian multidisciplinary visual artist and musician Gloria de Oliveira and longtime David Lynch collaborator Dean Hurley, I recognized exactly what was happening. Released on Sacred Bones, this sumptuous record delivers 12 tracks of symphonic ambient packed with synths, strings, and sensitivity. It’s as if one of M83’s soundtrack projects has been fused to the experimental electro of Sarah Davachi and the chilled-out shoegaze of Pale Saints. This is immaculate and elegant songcraft that compels you to sit down a spell so you can focus on the overlapping nuances of the lush music.

I imagine a room filled with banks upon banks of synths and processors looped, dubbed, and spliced together. Thick applications of delay and tremolo coat nearly every single sound, sample, and patch. The songs feel expansive and nearly limitless, but just when you get lost in the instrumental miasma, just enough motion appears to give a clear sense of direction.

Like most ambient artists, de Oliveira and Hurley deftly walk the fine line between mood and execution. Their gorgeous compositions swirl with spacey ambience and dreamy pop affects. Rich synth pads form floating minor-key melodic progressions while plucked strings deliver essential texture and the occasional batch of minimalist hi-hat and snare offer enough rhythmic essence. On top of it all, de Oliveira’s beautiful soprano sings alternately in French, German, Italian and English, providing a focal point for the listener’s attention at crucial junctures.

For example, “Ashore of the Cosmic Sea” sounds like it could have appeared on nearly any 4AD from the ‘90s. From de Oliveira’s glistening vocals that stretch, coo, and soar as exactly the right juncture to the delicate blend of airy synths and sensitive rhythm section, the song immediately draws you into a caring embrace and guides you thoughtfully in a slow dance. “Caring Gardens” inverts those musical ideas with a pastoral tune that has me swimming among the clouds. Gauzy keyboard pads ebb and flow at a languid tempo that conjures up images of floating down a lazy river or simply lying on a grassy hillside to stare into the horizon.

The outstanding “Eyes Within” drips with emotional resonance as de Oliveira’s voice guides the listener through soupy swathes of synths. The entire effect feels remarkably extroverted for such a relaxed pace (and song title), as the steady rhythm created by the syncopated snare snaps and thick kick drums encourages consistent forward motion. “Further Than the Stars” closes out the album with a mountaintop experience akin to a crescendo-friendly instrumental post-rock song. For every bit of slow trudge evincing incremental progress through a trial, listeners enjoy glorious exultations akin to sunshine bursting through the clouds to promise relief.

When it comes to the overarching mood of Oceans of Time, I’m struck by the in-betweenness of it all. If the album truly wanted to be meditative or monastic, it would have intentionally created space for unbroken focus. Instead, I believe it’s more contemplative in tone and approach because it allows for progression and evolution. I found myself to be entranced by the amniotic or transitional nature of the record – yes, you might be in a specific place right now, but you should just relax with the music and see where it takes you as it grows and develops.

Much like the truly popular New Age artists of the ‘90s, the album possesses a welcoming warmth, especially when it indulges in occasional pop dalliances and English lyrics. However, it’s also not afraid to embrace the nebulous and liminal, specifically when de Oliveira and Hurley proffer elegiac soundscapes that are both attractive and uncomfortable. Thus, the title is almost too obvious of a metaphor, and I mean that as a good thing because this is the sort of hazy, reflective, third-eye-opening mid-afternoon mood music that I didn’t know I needed in my life.

After the dreamy “All Flowers In Time”, inspired by an unfinished Jeff Buckley and Elizabeth Fraser demo, Gloria de Oliveira and Dean Hurley unveil “Something to Behold”, another haunting taster from their upcoming collaborative album Oceans of Time. It is actually pretty hard to describe their music, as it floats somewhere between 4AD dream pop classics, new age or even hazy and detached R&B à la Tirzah. Based on bewitching loops, “Something to Behold” is a sort of meditative mantra to repeat to yourself, to sweep away existential fears.

“‘Something to Behold’ bloomed out of a feeling of anxiety that had been creeping up on me more and more; living far from my family, watching loved ones getting older or in harm’s way,” explained Oliveira. “I fear losing them to time; not fearing my own mortality, but being left alone on this planet. To me, this is one of the most difficult cognitive challenges we earthly creatures have to grapple with – all we can do is try to merely soothe the sinking feeling by basking in the love we hold for others, and accepting our fate.”

Bay Area-based artist Chrystia Cabral aka SPELLLING has unveiled the title track from her incredible, glorious third album The Turning Wheel. There’s something reminiscent of the Summer Of Love with this solar, pastoral offering, a feeling of joy and unity that is emphasized by the colorful self-directed video.

“Turning Wheel is a bittersweet anthem about the desire for the pure and simple moments in time to last forever. I fantasize about a realm of peace, gentleness and ecstasy, like a pristine wilderness that evades the conditions, demands and decay of the human world and its pursuits,” she explained. “I’m the type of personality and artist that yearns for deep reclusion and repose, and oftentimes I struggle to make choices. I frequently feel immobilized by the structures and regiments of being a modern world citizen. I sing about these personal tensions through ‘The Turning Wheel’ and also speak to the larger theme of the album: the cosmic wheel of life. The song, like the album as a whole, ponders: when does reality stop circling around itself? When if ever will we reach a divine, angelic state that transcends the turning wheel?”

Bay Area artist Chrystia Cabral aka SPELLLING recently announced the release of her third album with the theatrical and orchestral single “Little Deer.” Recorded with an ensemble of 31 collaborating musicians, while dedicating more attention to the lyrics, the self-produced project is one of high ambition. Today, she continues in this direction with the epic, 7 minute-long new ballad, “Boys At School,” whose goal is to “step back into my younger self, my teenage self to voice my angst, desires and disillusionments.”

“I knew when I created the main motif on the piano that it was striking something really raw and both delicate and fierce,” she added. “The notes just immediately transported me to the era of my youth, of this time when you are really beginning to confront the mirror of yourself to the outside world.”

Two years after Mazy Fly, Chrystia Cabral aka SPELLLING will release her third album, The Turning Wheel, in June. Made in collaboration with 31 different musicians, the ambitious self-produced record will be more orchestral (it includes a string quartet, banjo, synths and bassoon amongst others). Split into two parts, “Above” and “Below,” it will progressively veer from a jubilant atmosphere to a darker gothic tone.

Coming with the announcement, she has also shared the first single, the jazzy cabaret opener “Little Deer”. “‘Little Deer’ is definitely a thesis track,” SPELLLING stated. “I feel that way because it not only showcases the greatest range of instrumentation that is featured on the album, but also because it accomplishes this strong impression of theater that I was striving for with the album as a whole. I’m especially proud of the lyrics. The challenge with the lyric writing was being able to speak to really large concepts like karma, reincarnation and the cycle of life without making the song sound burdened. I wanted the lyrics to match the grandeur of the instrumentation but still be easy to sing along to. I figured out a way to build the lyrics using a lot of abstract language that is still singable but odd in a way that 1 hope makes it memorable.”

Sydney-born singer-songwriter Indigo Sparke has just shared the video of “Colourblind,” the opening track off her debut album echo, co-produced by Big Thief‘s Adrianne Lenker. Melding softness with grit, the diaristic project explores her “experiences of addiction, of healing, of queerness, of heartbreak, of joy, of connection”.

“When writing and recording the record, I wondered how it would all come together,” she explained about the creation of echo. “I felt like I was standing back in the desert, looking up at the blue night sky, wondering how all the stars would connect. I think sometimes it’s the dark matter or void space between them, that holds it all together. This record is an ode to death and decay. And the restlessness I feel to belong to something greater. Adrianne and I talked so much about keeping the record stripped back and simple, that is, we are all just constantly getting stripped back and humbled by life.”

Indigo Sparke co-directed the “Colourblind” visuals with Monica Buscarino. Watch below and pre-order the album via Bandcamp below.

If you get anxious at home because of the confinement, Jenny Hval is here to save you. One year after her amazing album The Practice Of Love, the Norwegian artist has just released a standalone single, “Bonus Material,” which sounds like a well deserved moment of peacefulness in these weird times. The track features saxophonist Espen Reinertsen, who already contributed on her last album. “It is an unfinished track about unfinished substances leaking into one another. Trash practicing love,” she stated. Listen below and support the artist via Bandcamp as her tour just got rescheduled.

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