People come to ambient music from a variety of directions. Many reach a stage in their life when they look to entertainment for a sense of calm and tranquility. Others gravitate to it as a progression of their interest in beat-oriented electronic music. A third group embraces it like they do all genres — it’s just one more flavour in a healthy diet.
All valid paths. Once they land there however, many listeners find themselves consuming ambient music passively. That is to say, via streaming platforms, generally in shuffle mode. The attention music lovers pay to ambient music often pales in comparison to the deep relationship they’ve formed with other genres. (A similar argument can be made for other electronic music forms — a subject for another post.)
There are a bunch of reasons for this. The music lends itself naturally to mixtape-style consumption. And there’s a lot of it. Advances in digital tech have made it easier than ever to make music, and ambient is a style many feel inspired to produce.
Ambient music is worth knowing, as well as enjoying. Five gorgeous, brand new releases that deserve your attention:
Arovane & Taylor Deupree – Enth: Another in a long line of stunners by these two ambient veterans. A sure bet.
Boduf Songs – Selected Instrumental Works: Fourteen pieces, organized in two sets of seven parts. Delicately intricate work by Mathew Sweet under the Boduf Songs brand.
anthéne – Air Signs: A killer from one of Toronto’s best.
Federico Durand – La Manzana Mágica: Inspired by a collection of Cinderella stamps. What more do you need to know?
Various Artists – Affin Ambient Works (2022 – 2026), Curated by Joachim Spieth: Spieth, Markus Guentner and Pepo Galán are featured on multiple tracks. The collection also includes contributions by Yui Onodera and Arovane, zakè, Simone Giudice, Mathias Villard and rhubiqs.
The Moderns 