Jump to ContentJump to Footer

Hannu Karjalainen - Drift

Review

Drift by Hannu Karjalainen

Beautifully rich Ambient explorations

Hannu Karjalainen has been my night time refuge of late, his new album Drift proving the perfect companion for end-of-day contemplation. Following last year's A Handful Of Dust Is A Desert on Karaoke Kalk, the Finnish artist returns with more hypnagogic compositions, this time on Kingdoms (the label run by Francis Harris).

A spellbinding ambience takes grip on opener Sermon To The Birds, its gently picked guitar vibrating sensuously atop low soaring synths. As the album progresses, over a further six tracks of gloriously mutating soundscapes, Karjalainen masterfully works layers of intricate sound and texture into his dreamy, airy melodies. Birds sing with a synthesiser choir on Nightfall. Sunless is like a rush of handsome adrenaline. Muffled voices talk semi-conscious Dub on Untitled #34, with a heartbeat in your ears for good rhythm. On Carniverous Flower a crackling old record and spacey drones combine in the image of a time-lapse film of the subject in devastating action.

Tiny events packed together, tensions releasing, consciousness dissipating, we find ourselves less and less aware... drifting off.

  • Rating: 9/10
  • Listens: 17
  • Highlight: Untitled #34
  • Label: Kingdoms
  • Release Date: 16th November 2018

If you only listen to one track

Untitled #34

Label

Kingdoms

Release date

16 Nov 2018

top

1420

Join 1420 daily RSS readers

What is RSS?

Follow me on Twitter 645 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong... or something

Music reviews on Techno, Electro, Ambient and Pop.

How to get your music reviewed

Check my Bandcamp profile to see what music I'm buying

discusster's collection

Automatic updates via Twitter

Follow The Letter

Finger on the Pulse

Follow our massive list of artists, labels, clubs and music-related bods on Twitter

Find me elsewhere: