The works of zakè always take their time unfolding into rich worlds of detailed, harmonic drone, and on Dolere – his latest for Germany’s Affin – he offers two of his most patient and affecting compositions to date, over a span of 70 minutes. For this study of the ways in which time itself seems to stretch and slow during phases of sorrow and pain, the artist describes an inspiration from the feeling of being “suspended in the weight of emotions we cannot change.”


First movement, “Dolera” (from the Latin dolor, describing anguish), drifts on gorgeous, melancholy waves that encourage total focus and slow, sympathetic breath. It is ensconced in a trademark analog hiss, adorned in the stereo field by sonic streaks of light and the contemplative sound of decayed tape samples, mimicking a mind unceasingly turning over its preoccupations. Nearly album-length in its own right, “Dolera” may act – like many zakè pieces – as a sonic Rorschach Test, equally capable of serving as emotional commiseration, or as the backdrop for the essential inner work of meditation.


The artist states: “This year, my life came to a halt, as if the Spring froze in its tracks; amidst the heaviness I longed for reprieve, and to escape the relentless march forward. These tracks serve as a refuge for those burdened by distraction or sorrow, offering a brief respite from the inexorable passage of time.”


Fittingly the title piece, “Dolere”, is named for the present-tense, infinitive form of dolor. This small but significant linguistic difference echoes the shift in mood from the album’s first half, as a more darkly-tinged drone underscores barely perceptible field recordings of birdsong, and the subtle drama of a glow peeking through somber fog. “Dolere” progresses at a deliberate pace, shifting its hues in the way tree shadows move across a forest floor; the background white-noise hiss builds in tandem as fixation intensifies. The only time entropy wins is when the final notes fade, and we’re returned to the ticking of the clock on the wall.


zakè’s catalog is rich with modern ambient highlights, and Dolere feels destined to become a touchstone of the genre in league with those by artists like Thomas Köner and Andrew Chalk, perfect for those in need of a breath during an era defined by breathlessness.


The partnership in this release is a natural fit, as zakè’s own renowned label Past Inside the Present has worked with Affin’s founder Joachim Spieth closely over the years, and both share the same noble goal of building uncommon sonic spaces outside the mainstream. Dolere is graced with artwork by legendary polymath Markus Guentner, whose own releases for Affin – alongside those of bvdub, Tori Fuko, and Simone Giudice – have helped define the label’s graceful aesthetic.

design | https://markus-guentner.de
mastering | www.ambientmountainhouse.com
Affin | https://affin.bandcamp.com

Dolere

zakè - Dolere

Past inside the Present.
https://www.pastinsidethepresent.com/

00.00 : Ecovillage - Break Of Dawn (ft. Gallery Six).
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/break-of-dawn-ft-gallery-six

03.23 : Endless Melancholy - Marigold Fields. 
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/marigold-fields

06.23 : Color of Time - Free For A Moment.
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/free-for-a-moment

09.42 : Havenaire - Wanderer.
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/wanderer

15.45 : T.R. Jordan - Dynamics.
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/dynamics

20.24 : Ecovillage - I Remember You (ft. Joe Frawley).
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/i-remember-you-ft-joe-frawley

23.57 : Wil Bolton - Verdigris.
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/verdigris

28.43 : Havenaire - Stargazing.
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/stargazing

37.30 : Color Of Time - While We Can.
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/while-we-can

43:31 : Endless Melancholy - Expand.
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/expand

51.21 : Endless Melancholy - Collapse.
https://pitp.bandcamp.com/track/collapse

Lauge & Baba Gnohm showcased: Past Inside The Present

Following his debut on Affin in the summer of 2024 titled Dolere and his celebrated collaboration with label founder Joachim Spieth and longtime partner Markus Guentner on Arcadia (Affin, 2025), zakè now unveils his second solo release for the imprint, Low Harmonics. True to its title, the album descends into the shadowed strata of sound, exploring the resonance of low frequencies, deep bass currents, and subsonic vibrations. Within these layers emerges a paradoxical tension that is at once pacifying and soporific, an experience that is both grounding and transcendent.

The record continues the contemplative ethos of Dolere (Affin, 2024), a work that spanned two expansive compositions and examined “the ways in which time itself seems to stretch and slow during phases of sorrow and pain,” while offering “a refuge for those burdened by distraction or sorrow, providing a brief respite from the inexorable passage of time” (Affin, 2024). Where Dolere traced the fragile boundary between anguish and reprieve, Low Harmonics pushes further into existential terrain, using subterranean registers as both metaphor and medium. In doing so, zakè positions his practice within an ambient tradition that harmonizes intimacy with expansiveness, echoing the textural gravity of Thomas Köner and the spectral poetics of Geir Jenssen, while at the same time advancing Affin’s pursuit of “uncommon sonic spaces outside the mainstream” (Affin, 2024).

In this way, Low Harmonics resonates as both a continuation and a deepening of the path set forth by Dolere. If the earlier work enveloped listeners in melancholic waves of drone and decay, this new album distills that energy into a singular vision, an elemental exploration of vibration itself where deep listening reveals its existential weight and quiet transcendence.

All tracks written & produced by zakè

website | https://affinmusic.de/
Design | markus-guentner.de
Mastering | www.ambientmountainhouse.com
zakè | zakedrone.com

Low Harmonics

Affin is an ambient / deep techno platform for artists exploring sound and visual form.

run by @joachim-spieth

The duo Lauge & Baba Gnohm consists of Henrik Laugesen and Kalle Christensen, both born in 1985 in Denmark. They first met in 2008 in Christiania. After a successful day in the studio, they decided to put their previous solo projects on hold, and team up. Lauge & Baba Gnohm was formed in the late winter of 2008, and that wintery feeling which was present in their first tracks, still leave traces in their more recent soundscapes. Henrik and Kalle are heavily inspired by nature, especially the arctic parts of the world. Till now Lauge & Baba Gnohm have had many releases on various labels around the globe, as well as being part of a sync company dealing with soundtracks for movies and documentaries. The very first Lauge & Baba Gnohm collaboration release was The Perfect Stranger which was released on the German record label Blue Tunes Records. Along with releases on different compilations, Lauge & Baba Gnohm have released two EPs: Daybreak, on Soundmute, and Monolith, on Chillbase and the full length album "Langbortistan" on Altar Records.

New tracks tagged #pastinsidethepresent