Monolith Cocktail Blog

SUBLIME AMBIENT MUSIC REVIEWED BY DOMINIC VALVONA

A Journey Of Giraffes ‘Empress Nouveau’
(Somewherecold Records) 31^st March 2023

Six albums into his partnership with the North American home of ambient and electronic music, Somewherecold Records, the unassuming composer John Lane once more peaceably reveals another finely-crafted, tactile album of subtle vision and beauty. His most successful conversion since swapping the beachcomber Pet Sounds imbued musical language of Expo (hinted at later on) to pick up the mantle of ambient and neoclassical composition under the A Journey Of Giraffes moniker, John has traversed various themes, from the love letter Kona album to Susumu Yokota to the Caucasus atmospheres of Armenia.

With various sonic, musical leitmotifs, a mystically suggestive title and references to the atavistic, to Iberian memories and delicate decorative tracery, the veiled, perfumed Empress Nouveau glides and sails, emerges and, just as subtly, disappears across dreamy spells of wistfulness, promise and the intriguing; a voyage, but not necessarily a linear journey.

Imbued by a suffusion of influences, most notably Harold Budd and Susumu Yokota (once more) but also Kazumichi Komatsu, Sakamoto & Sylvain, Andrew Heath and Eno, Lane spins, weaves and spindles the essence of place and time; stirring up dulcimer-like tones of the Orient, a hand-ringing school (could also be a call to prayer, or assembly point prompt, perhaps the intermission signal at the opera or theatre) bell, or softly evoking a South American wilderness.

Classical tones comfortably sit with the synthesized and crystalized as lightly patterned motifs, bulb-like notes and pizzicato strings resonate, and melodious flakes fall. Amongst that soft, occasionally chiming and sparkling, musicality you can detect the odd passage of saxophone, a diaphanous music box, burbled and wobbly bubbles, tine-like plucks of what could be a mbira, Mosquito Coast pan-piped mysteries, the Baroque and a chirping, chattering, knee-rubbing chorus of insects. With a surprising evocation of John’s seashells gathering Brian Wilson inspired Expo incarnation from a near decade ago, ‘Little Flowers On A Stone’ has a real touch of The Wonderments and Van Dyke Parks about it, albeit stripped of those lush vocal harmonies.

On an even keel throughout, whether that’s giving a soundtrack to the memories of traveling to the quaint Alicante city/municipality of Elda for instance, or, referencing the female chemist and Mesopotamian court overseer Tapputi, whose name can be found etched on a 1200 B.C. cuneiform tablet, Empress Nouveau remains an ocean-liner serenely floating across a milk sea and vaporous waves. But then there are also a number of allusions to the artisan craft of pottery and ornamentation (‘Bamboo Majolica’ and ‘Baroque Filigree’) to be found in the melodic ether and peaceful motions of this gentle traverse. This could itself be a metaphor for John’s own applied craftsmanship in carefully and artfully composing such effective quality ambient and neoclassical stirrings.

This is yet another essential album from one of the best artists working in this field of subtle, sometimes breathtaking and sublime, exploration – although this is experimenting without sounding like you’re experimenting, if that makes sense. It’s a joy to experience.

The John Lanes Files – Links To Previous Albums Featured On The Monolith Cocktail

A Journey Of Giraffes ‘Spool’

AJOG ‘Kona’

AJOG ‘F²’

AJOG ‘Armenia’

Expo ‘She Sells Seashells’

Hi, my name is Dominic Valvona and I’m the Founder of the music/culture blog monolithcocktail.com For the last ten years I’ve featured and supported music, musicians and labels we love across genres from around the world that we think you’ll want to know about. No content on the site is paid for or sponsored and we only feature artists we have genuine respect for /love. If you enjoy our reviews (and we often write long, thoughtful ones), found a new artist you admire or if we have featured you or artists you represent and would like to buy us a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/monolithcocktail to say cheers for spreading the word, then that would be much appreciated.