from 'II' [CD|LP|DIGITAL]
Denovali Records · den378
available on all formats at http://denovali.com/notilus

After their highly praised debut record "I" - called "a sparkling electro-jazz and cinematographic hybridization game" and "refreshingly futuristic big band music" - the french quintet returns with the new full length called "II". Notilus is back, more raw and free than ever, taking a journey through both evening shadows and luminous mornings, through long expanses of suspended time as well as hypnotic swathes of dancing vibes. It crosses vast tundras, ascends snowy mountain ranges, reaches swampy troubled waters bathed in eerie light, at the crossroad between Jazz, Techno, Ambient music and self-reflexion.

The Notilus Orchestration:
Philippe Rieger : machines
Mathieu Goust : drums & percussions
Guillaume Nuss : trombone & effets
Christophe Rieger : saxophone & effets
Paul Barbieri : cornet, synthétiseurs

Inc Holy

Notilus - Inc Holy

Geophones, hydrophones, contact mic and 6 omnidirectional microphones

Notes
As the light diminished, the volcanic palette undergoes a kaleidoscopic transformation, revealing an iridescence a spectral shimmering.

The sands embody the ethereal interplay of otherworldly pigments that defy earthly conventions.
Listening with multispecies ecologies: volcanic rock pools teeming with life , hermit crabs, Black Sea urchin, Goby and Shrimp, with tides crashing nearby. Human perception and language too limited to describe these multiplicitous worlds.

Using  geophones to  convert ground movement (velocity) into voltage, in attempt to pick up subterranean vibrations. The deviation of this measured voltage from the base line is called the seismic response and is analysed for structure of the earth.
In this majestic Canary Islands. We discovered alien, enigmatic volcanic landscapes, lava fields and magical caves and art by Cesar Manrique. An island carved and shaped with creativity and art.

Speculative Field Trip: Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote

Look, I know that many of my opening words often begin with “Today, I am thrilled to share with you a new piece by [so and so]”, but how can I not use the exact same opening line when one of my all-time favourite piano composers reaches out to me to premiere a piece from his newly-announced long-awaited album? This Norwegian musician’s first proper solo studio release appeared on the beloved Sonic Pieces in 2014, which we only later learned to be part of a trilogy of albums. But that doesn’t mean that I spent only the last decade listening to Otto A. Totland – together with his school friend Erik K. Skodvin, the duo has been making beautiful music as Deaf Center, releasing Neon City EP in 2004 on Type. We now see him being backed by Nils Frahm, who not only shares the production credits on his upcoming new album but also releases Exin on his very own Berlin-based LEITER imprint, which he founded with his manager Felix Grimm only a few years ago. This also means that the album was recorded at Frahm’s studio at Funkhaus complex, offering the most beautiful-sounding piano in the hands of the most beautiful-sounding mind. The emotionally charged and sometimes melancholy sound is still present in Totland’s collection of sixteen solo piano pieces, but there is also an upbeat and vibrant tint on a few, including the first single, “Marka”, which follows a classical staccato harmony that I can envision being played on a harpsichord. Yet pieces like “Lys” take me back to that particular flavour of Totland’s sonic tenderness to pull on my heartstrings, allowing me to get lost in those barely audible reverberations of the keys. The piece I’m sharing with you today is called “Rift”, an introspective and sombre reflection in just a few pensive chords.

Exit

Rift

TRACK PREMIERE : Otto A. Totland - Rift

The 'Noise Print' project began from a desire to create deep, earthy textures. I had an image of walking along a narrow forest path and being very present in the moment. For this album I changed my usual approach by setting a one-hour time limit for each studio session. As soon as I set this limitation my ‘chattery brain’ started stirring up doubts about my ability to work under these confines- an hour wasn’t long enough to create ‘amazing music’ and that setting such restraints would be stopping me from producing quality work. However, once I started working, a diﬀerent, more grounded version of myself emerged-more sure footed and less neurotic and anxious, focused on the present moment rather than getting anxious over future outcomes. And the outcomes were good, I was really happy with the material I was creating and the whole of Noise Print was made in these sessions.  

While I made the album I started to think about identity, shadow selves, unconscious selves, versions of ourselves that are quite diﬀerent from the everyday person we think we are. In many ways this was quite comforting, the thought that my everyday self could take it’s hands of the wheel and let a grown up much more capable person could get on with the work. On reflection I realise that making music is one situation in my life where I’m able to tap into this state without too much diﬃculty (most of the time) but it was during the making of Noise Print that I actually noticed it was happening.  

This led me to think about the concept of shadow selves-alternate versions of our subconscious selves that operate beyond our everyday distractions and influences. Like the image of the forest track-a space where the noisy mental clutter fades, and a deeper, older self takes over.  

To sum this one up-it’s like a walk along a narrow forest path and the present moment is very much alive-your mind is right in ‘the now’ with past and future losing any meaning. The ‘Noise Print’ title came about by me thinking if you could print to tape the sound of your psyche/consciousness when your are in this present focused, deep state.  

- Phil Tomsett - April 2024

Noise Print

Phil Tomsett - Noise Print (Preview)

Well, now... Headphone Commute's Best of the Year feature for 2024 is all done and dusted (I hope you enjoyed this instalment and your wallet is not too sore). I spent the last two weeks unplugging from the world (even as the events around the world seemed to spin out of control), reflecting on the future direction of this platform and the next steps that I intend to take to improve upon our collective sonic journey guided by these honest words on honest music. And fear not, the authentic curation of HC-delivered content that you have hopefully grown accustomed to is here to stay, even as I branch off in a slight detour (more on that later). Meanwhile, to stay true to my words and to prove the above point, I'm excited to share with you this exclusive track premiere by a Stockholm duo of Johan Kisro and Petter Lindhagen, recording under the project name Dött ljus for the always-excellent London-based Slowcraft Records. The music embraces playful experimentation, crossing numerous genres while pairing the album's vibrant energy with soft, moody undertones. This careful balance creates a richly layered voyage, blending sounds in ways that tantalize the brainwaves in just the right way, shaking off the winter clouds and pulling the listener into a warm blanket of sincerity. I think it's fair to say that if it wasn't for James Murray's keen ear for the careful curation of his genre-spanning imprint, I would have never come upon this tender album, and that's precisely the type of connection with the label owners (who put their time and energy into every single release) and artists behind the music that I seek. And now, enjoy the track!

Bottna

TRACK PREMIERE : Dött ljus - Bottna

In the words of the composer:
In this piece I am trying to capture trying and failing, improving...moving towards the light.
The opening 3 chord phrase is extended and re-harmonised, growing in length, density and volume each time. After several tonal tangents we eventually succeed in resolving to a home chord of D major in the final bar.

Fail Better

From the album Layers of Afternoon, Available June 13, 2025 on Western Vinyl
Pre-order / Listen https://lnk.to/layersofafternoon

Goldmund - "Darnley"

We’re thrilled to introduce our new project, Harbors—a meeting point between our two ambient sensibilities, with a touch of piano. We’ve teamed up with the amazing folks at Nettwerk to bring you our debut album, When We Are Free, coming August 1st. The first single, A Portrait of Time, is out now.

https://holliekenniff.bandcamp.com/track/a-portrait-of-time-feat-harbors

A Portrait of Time

A Portrait Of Time

Sometimes I wake up in a different bed, in a different city, at a different time. Everything around me is new and there is excitement about all the possibilities. But there’s also a bit of anxiety and maybe even dread. My anchor is gone, and I am drifting with the current, afloat among the unfamiliar waters. This is when I turn back towards music. Music that makes me feel like I am safe, serene and cosy. Music that I often call my home. This is precisely what I hear in the soft piano keys of the Norwegian pianist and composer Øystein Skar, who has announced his upcoming debut album, titled Hem. I may not know him as a person, and yet his playing makes me calm. I may not truly know his story, and yet his story’s somehow mine. And while I navigate the stormy weather, this ray of sunshine points the way. In these turbulent and truly anxious times, I turn back towards home. I turn back towards music.

Composed during winter’s embrace in his woodland home outside Oslo (I imagine a hushed sanctuary of a snow-draped retreat), the piece embodies the album’s central theme of homecoming – not merely to a physical place, but to essential truths long carried within. In its patient build and emotional resolution, “Levva” invites listeners into the intimate geography of Skar’s personal mindspace. The piece stands as testimony to what becomes possible when an artist, after years of outward exploration, turns the compass needle toward the territories of the heart.

"Levva, meaning “to live well,” is a longer, more experimental track blending classical, improvisational, and electronic music. Anchored by a synth arpeggiation and a piano melody, the piece has two parts with the second evolving into an expansive, percussive, and dreamy landscape created with an array of synths. For me, it’s about embracing strength through authenticity." — Øystein Skar

TRACK PREMIERE : Øystein Skar - Levva

Blurstem’s 'Remnants and Whispers' is an album of memory-of echoes and fragments, of moments gathered and reshaped, of the past carried gently into the present. Released on Fluid Audio, renowned for its exquisitely crafted physical editions, this collection of soundscapes and textures is imbued with nostalgia, intimacy, and the quiet weight of time.

The album weaves together the delicate and the vast, the small and the sweeping. Tiny, almost imperceptible guitar plucks flicker like candlelight amidst expansive ambient washes. The sonic palette moves seamlessly between lo-fi warmth and pristine clarity, embracing the imperfections of cassette recording and the wobbly, warbled charm of home videos from a lost era. Each track breathes with a human touch-organic instruments processed and reimagined, from tremolo strings pitched and resampled on “Tethered” to layers of sound that feel like old photographs brought to life.

At its heart, 'Remnants and Whispers' explores the idea of remnants-what we carry with us through life, the fragments of friendships, memories, and fleeting moments that shape who we are. Much like the album’s sonic construction-built from past sketches, ideas, and textures revived and given new form-the music mirrors the way we collect and reinterpret our own experiences over time.

This ethos extends beyond the music itself into its physical presentation, with Fluid Audio’s deluxe edition incorporating 1920s sheet music and book fragments as old as the 1890s-historical relics that feel like the perfect visual counterpart to the album’s themes of memory, loss, and renewal. The tactile nature of these artifacts deepens the listening experience, making 'Remnants and Whispers' not just an album, but a tangible connection to the past.

Mastered on Bartels’ late ’60s analog tape machine, the album’s final touch further enhances its warmth and character, adding an unmistakable depth and timeless quality to its sonic palette.

A meditation on change, nostalgia, and the beauty of imperfection, Remnants and Whispers is an invitation to pause, reflect, and listen-not just to the music, but to the quiet echoes of our own stories.

Music: Blurstem
Mastering: Bartels
Design: Crossley

www.fluidaudio.co.uk
www.blurstem.bandcamp.com

Blurstem - Along the Rails

'Petrichor' is the third studio album from long-time collaborators James Osland and Andrew Heath, and serves as a natural continuation of their creative partnership following the release of Elysian Fields (2024), also on the esteemed Fluid Audio label.

The two artists were initially brought together by a shared admiration for each other’s work within the ambient music community. Andrew Heath is an established figure in the genre, with numerous albums and EPs released on respected imprints such as Disco Gecko, Whitelabrecs, Rusted Tone Recordings, Elm Records, and White Paddy Mountain. James Osland, meanwhile, is both an accomplished artist and the founder of Elm Records, a boutique label known for its thoughtful curation. His personal discography includes releases on Unknown Tone Records, Whitelabrecs, Flaming Pines, and Dewtone Recordings, among others. Osland’s practice explores the intersection of sound, memory, and place, working across both sonic and visual mediums.

Petrichor began to take shape during an exchange of ideas between the two artists in the late winter and early spring of 2024. As Andrew shared loops and sonic sketches, James found himself listening from his studio, watching the unrelenting English rain from the window. These moments of stillness-quiet reflections on the shifting of seasons-informed the mood and direction of the album.

What emerged is a collection of slowly evolving compositions, revealing gentle melodies, nuanced textures, and soft drones-much like the tender unfolding of early spring leaves. The album carefully weaves together field recordings, organic textures, and synthesis to create immersive soundscapes that capture the subtle beauty and contemplative atmosphere of seasonal change.

Notilus - Inc Holy

Denovali

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