With Open Arms - Some Place Like Home [Sound In Silence 122]

Released via the Athens-based imprint that is Sound In Silence as their cat.no. 122 on April 28th, 2k25 is "Some Place Like Home", the new collaborational album effort by Dan Robertson and Ben Rath employing their shared musical moniker With Open Arms with this one. Rolled out over the course of 43 minutes of total playtime the duo caters a twelve track menu based on a shared library of musical building blocks the two artists built seperately and independently before fusing and amalgamating their ideas into a coherent musical universe, starting from an angle of calm and classic Ambient movements leading into the chiming, uplifting piece "The Kindness of Strangers" which, in some strange ways, evokes memories of rural medieval - or better: pre-technological - life and festivities followed by the hovering deep melancholia of "Warehoused" - probably one of the most beautiful pieces of Ambient x Deep Listening Music on this album. Furthermore cuts like "Y Mynydd (Fersiwn Llywd)" do not only indicate a growing interest in the Welsh language but also bring forth ethereal vibrations and comforting bass waves backed by minimalist, almost organic percussion elements whereas "Hiraeth" does the same languagewise but also serves a beautiful ebb and flow of slightly washed out pads and Ambient harmonies whilst "Transient Ephemera" harks back to stripped down ChillOut and probably echoes of echoes of New Age backed by a slightly wobbly bass drone and "Some Stubborn Embers Burn On", despite being rather lively in comparison to the rest of the album, is more of a soothing, organic and highly comforting affair just to name a few. Quite a recommended album for Ambient collectors and everyone beyond. Go check!