A stunning new record from Danish artist Alto Aria (Aria Leth Schütze). Schütze weaves together something really special here. While the vocals are front and center–and deservedly so, they’re beautiful–the production is equally nimble. Layers of strings and pads do the heavy lifting (to the sky, truly), but I keep coming back to Schütze’s use of shuffling drum breaks buried deep in the mix, essentially as a textural element more than a rhythmic one. It’s a clever device that subtly brings an otherwise dreamlike song back down to the familiarity of earth without shifting the energy of the song into something that would imply any real dancefloor utility. Instead of a comment on what’s happening in the club, it’s the POV of the passersby. This is a follow-up single to Alto Aria’s recent album Ephemeral, described as a “little tail” to that album. It’s out now on bandcamp, but also available below or for streaming. If you like this, definitely check the album too.

Alto Aria – “Stars Align” (mp3)

Next up is another set of lovely tracks from Milan’s Tiny Little Ghost (Vanni Casagrande), who I’ve now covered three times. Like the stuff I’ve covered from Casagrande previously, these two songs demonstrate again his penchant for finding the space where heavy shuffled rhythms meet theatrical ambient. It’s wonderfully romantic stuff, all covered in teal and rose hues; angsty fairies floating around in heartbreak acid trips. No bandcamp for these, but you can find them for streaming all over.

Tiny Little Ghost – “Stories You Tell” (sc)

Tiny Little Ghost – “Tiny Little Ghosts” (sc)

Finally tonight is a striking ambient piece from Portland-based artist Eric Angelo Bessel. This is from his recent 7,” featuring a set of b-sides from his album Mirror at Night, which came out late last year. Direct written descriptions of ambient music like this so often fail–straying into overt cliche and sap. But at risk of doing it a disservice, I really like this piece, so I’m going to give it a whirl. It’s stirring and fragile, and aptly named. The subtle tremolo Bessel employs to modulate the washes of synth atmosphere gives the otherwise oceanic piece a faint sense of structure–an almost biological quality that really does remind me of a slowly spinning strand of DNA, gently suspended somewhere deep within cell walls. This isn’t available for streaming, so listen below and grab the 7″ on bandcamp.

Eric Angelo Bessel – “Double Helix” (mp3)