Ecstatic Lightsongs is the gripping new full-length from Aarktica, the project of Los Angeles-based artist Jon DeRosa. We were introduced to his riveting 2000 debut album, No Solace in Sleep, via its remaster this year — showcasing a guitar-driven ambient enthrallment defined by droning resonance and spacious soundscapes. Ecstatic Lightsongs displays an expansion of sound from the project, maintaining a strong atmospheric prowess while also incorporating vocal elements within its dynamic balancing of shoegaze, ambient, drone and beyond.
“Trick of the Light” commences the album with aptly illuminated qualities, attributed to twinkling guitar tones and glistening, spacey synths — assembling for an immersive atmospheric pull. A solemn, title-bearing vocal emergence arrives thereafter, tranquil and introspective whilst navigating seamlessly within the textured array of synths and pit-pattering rhythms. The track feels both nocturnal and effervescent in its unveiling soundscape. The blissfully hypnotic “To Love is To Believe” ensues, captivating from the get-go with its simmering strings and rhythmic bolstering, finding a middle ground between dream-pop and trip-hop.
Another standout track, “Destination Paradise” also envelops with its string-laden gorgeousness — developing thereafter into an ethereal vocal chilliness and pulsing bass, crafting a sound that reminds fondly of Air’s vocal-featured efforts. The trickling guitars and wordless vocal effects combine with meditative appeal. Album finale “Second Skin” excels as well, playing as an impactful cover of the Chameleons UK. Its moody post-punk origins are transformed into a melancholic, string-bolstered mystique — while the vocals play with similarly bleak entrancement. Ecstatic Lightsongs is another riveting success from Aarktica.
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We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
