Isola by Rumpistol
A career defining album
If, like me, you enjoy the Classical-leaning side of Ambient music (by artists like Max Richter, Yann Tiersen and Nils Frahm) and Rumpistol is relatively new on your radar, then you'll be as delighted as I to discover this enchanting album (and I don't use that word lightly).
Rumpistol is Danish multi-instrumentalist Jens B. Christiansen and Isola is his seventh album in a career spanning two decades. The comparisons and mutual references to his aforementioned peers are perfectly acceptable (he's clearly influenced them as much as they him) but Isola is a near faultless work of art. It's got high production values, a meaningful track sequence with an undulating narrative, bubbling with hooks and subtle contrasts. Overall, a deeply melodic, yearning, surprising and quietly satisfying listen.