Jonas Munk has long been a master of mood-heavy electronics; be it with his past project Manual, his masterful ambient collaborations with Ulrich Schnauss and Billow Observatory, and of course his solo work like Pan and Absorb Fabric Cascade. He knows the instruments like he knows the backs of his hands, and he uses guitars and synthesizers in an ethereal way. Through layering, looping, and sonic manipulations these instruments become ghostly interpretations of what Munk sees and hears in his mind’s eye.
Back in 2020 Jonas released the ambient masterwork Minimum Resistance, a tour-de-force of transcendent, therapeutic music. For me personally, it was a sonic world for escape from the chaos of that year. It made the isolation and social distancing of the day not as lonely and crushing. And via Munk’s Azure Vista Records my brain had already been calibrated to such hazy, blissful sounds thanks to releases from artists like Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea, Auburn Lull, Quaeschning & Schnauss, and Munk and Jason Kolb’s Billow Observatory.
In 2021 Jonas released a second ambient masterwork in Altered Light, a digital-only album that continued what Jonas began a year before. And now we have Mirror Phase, which concludes Munk’s trilogy of ambient bliss and aural therapy. Using guitar and synthesizer loops, the Danish producer and musician builds yet another world of weightless sound and dream-like interpretations in which we can get lost in.
Opening track “Dawn Layer” is the sound of a much welcomed old friend as hazy guitar and synths are layered in gauzy, eloquent designs. A slow motion dance between man and circuit envelopes the listener in a sonic bath of patient bliss. If you are already familiar with Jonas Munk’s solo work then this will be the equivalent of running into an old friend and catching up. Eyes closed, this is much needed musical therapy.
Besides being released in a limited color vinyl pressing, Mirror Phase is also being released in a 2-CD set with Altered Light in physical format for the first time.
Listen to album opener “Dawn Layer” below, and preorder now while there’s still copies available. ‘Mirror Phase’ will released 10/25.
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