A Forest

Christian L+Ýffler is co-founder of Ki Records and well-known for his intense, deep-moving sound with melancholic undertones. After several stunning releases for Ki and Orphanear, the imprint of Dial's co-founder Pawel, this is his debut album, A Forest. His music signifies an upward curve of rising intensity from which everything non-essential drops away. If the kick drum thuds along reasonably unassuming in the beginning of a track, it is already withdrawn into itself. Dancing, but with one foot in a dream. There is the always-emerging crackling, surrounding the arriving and surrounding what has been, floating, like collapsing chords, circling around a sphere which is nearly beyond the music. And like seagulls chopping through hi-hats, or like the heavy sea's beating bass lines, these tracks roll back and forth with an oblique beauty. "A Forest," for example, casts somewhat Tejada-esque shadows but without the timpani, only with meandering delay. And yes, you will think of sunlight when you hear "Blind" or "Field." There is also "Signals," a track on which recalls Arvo P+¤rt and whose tintinnabuli (bell)-style connects it to the dancefloor in the most beautiful way. Not only does it raise the volume, it also warms the heart. Features contributions from artists such as Mohna, Gry and Marcus Roloff.