A Strangely Isolated Place Vinyl & CDs

Review: Colin Dunkerley, aka the artist Lapsed Pacifist, navigates the world as a sound engineer by day and leaves little time for his own music. He has plenty of accolades for his work from a niche audience for his productions under the alias Negative Neutron but for years wanted to pursue a more dark ambient route. Finally, he has made time to indulge his own music-making endeavours and now presents Hypatia, an album that materialised over an extended period. It features field recordings and audio loops processed through his modular setup and takes inspiration from Marco Polo's imaginary cities and rather mirrors Dunkerley's creative journey as it evokes memories of cold, distant places and the emotions they stir.

Review: A Strangely Isolated Place continues to be a vital source of intrigue in the broader sense of what ambient music can be in the modern era. Here they present the debut album from Liz Qun Wong, a classically-trained cellist and composer who has been releasing and recording as Lihla for nigh-on ten years. As you might well imagine, there's a strong electro-acoustic bed to the sound on this mesmerising full-length, but one of the real distinctions with this album is Wong's storytelling, which gently rests atop the nuanced, textural compositions and guides us into some intriguing, cinematic places.

Review: A Strangely Isolated Place has secured this second most captivating album from One Million Eyes. They impressed many with their magical debut album Drama back in 2021 and once again reach new heights in the world of ambient here with Iris. Their brand of ambient is relatively fulsome, with lots to focus on from the smeared and pastoral chords to the muted synth modulations, the vinyl crackle, distant vocal cries and the heavenly backlit glow. It is an absorbing and positive place to be with a sense of optimism colouring the airwaves thought.