Jonas Munk Returns With The Gorgeous ‘Dawn Layer’ ; New Full-Length On The Horizon

When it comes to ambient electronic music, I have to say I’m not an expert. I’d never say I’m some ambient historian with charts and graphs and crates of Windham Hill and private press releases in my vinyl dungeon, where I go to unplug from the harsh reality of 21st century livin’. No, but I would say that the artist that opened my brain up to the possibility of maybe becoming an ambient music novice would have to be Danish musician/producer/studio wizard Jonas Munk.

I first discovered Jonas Munk’s musical world nearly ten years ago with Causa Sui. From the psych-heavy jams into more esoteric, Komische-informed impressionistic work, Causa Sui added flavors and spices to their Kyuss-loving, grunge-adjacent sound that made them stand out amongt a sea of stoner/psych bands.

Pretty quickly I started deep diving into Munk’s solo work. First Pan and then his 2014 masterstroke Absorb/Fabric/Cascade, a synth excursion that touched on everything from Gottsching, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich with a healthy dose of ambient swirls from good measure.

In 2017 Jonas Munk started Azure Vista Records, a label dedicated to more nuanced electronic music. Bringing in artists like Ulrich Schnauss, Thorsten Quaeschning, Auburn Lull, zakè and City of Dawn, and Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea to name a few. This opened a new sonic door into more slow-moving, ethereal sounds that I was just starting to get to know with artists like Omni Gardens, Steve Roach, Ian Boddy, and Polypores. Plus, Munk’s work with Billow Observatory and his full-on ambient record Minimum Resistance blew open the doors to ambient music for me.

Jonas Munk has just released a three-song EP called Dawn Layer. It contains the title track “Dawn Layer” which will be on his forthcoming solo album, while the other two tracks are exclusive to this release. They are a showcase for Munk’s exquisite ability to build walls of circuital noise by manipulating guitar and electronics into something unrecognizable yet comforting and all-encompassing.

“Dawn Layer” sounds like morning coming to life. A slow motion rising of the new day over a pink-hued horizon; shattered light excricating from the darkness to welcome us in the waking moments of sparking existence. I’m quite astounded every time I step into these tracks, as they feel like stepping on some brand new slow motion world. Feet touching alien yet enlightening ground. The gauzy awareness of an anesthetic high.

The exclusive tracks here are as equally engaging. “Canopy” rustles with the sound of percolating waters as the reverberating keys set the scene of a forest stream making its way to a bigger body of water, like it has for a 1,000 years. “At a Distance” quakes in slow motion gratitude; a sonic congratulation to humanity for keeping it going even among tumultuous times and the existential dangers around every corner these days. Despite the darkness, this music seems to light a path to something better. Something close to appreciation for making it thru another day.

You can listen to Jonas Munk’s ‘Dawn Layer’ on all your favorite ways to digest the digital sounds. The new full-length, featuring title track “Dawn Layer”, will be out eventually on Azure Vista Records. Until then, dive in below.