The electronic musical duo of Billow Observatory -which includes Jonas Munk(Causa Sui) and Jason Kolb(Auburn Lull)- have been making understated ambient, instrumental shoegaze, and ethereal dream pop for over a decade now. The transatlantic duo(Kolb resides in Michigan while Munk is located in Denmark) have a knack for writing in a kind of ‘ambient code’ together. Sharing music files back and forth with each other is the process. Start out with a guitar loop, then send it off into the ether for the other to add, sculpt, interpret, and essentially throw into this musical tumbler to remove the rough edges and make something smooth, evocative, and brilliant when looked at in the light.
This has been the process since their self-titled debut back in 2012. As well as over 5 full-length LPs, EPs and singles.
Following 2022s Stareside, Billow Observatory have returned with the fully engaged, hazy, and enigmatic fifth LP titled The Glass Curtain. Once again working with Felte Records, Munk and Kolb have gone back to their more gauzy, hazy beginnings. Returning to their more amorphous compositions, The Glass Curtain contains 9 tracks of slow-moving musical clouds, shapeshifting pieces that feel like waking dreams.
Starting with 2017s II: Plains/Patterns the band began working in more rhythmic approaches, giving their pieces a more percussive feel. That worked well to give their songs a rhythmic line to move along. But with The Glass Curtain and it’s three released singles so far -“Systol Nightshade”, “Colza”, and “Armistice”- Billow Observatory are returning to their ‘swaths of slow moving sound’ formula they began with.
There’s something quite meditative happening when this duo is working in hazy mode. There’s an expansion of the mind and spirit, especially within the workings of something like “Colza” or “Armistice”. Looped instrumentation, effects, and electronics come together in synthetic harmony to create something vastly organic in sound. Whispered intentions come thru in these tracks; thoughts, emotions, and the world at large fade in the wake of these wavering sonics.
Billow Observatory tap into something beyond what’s in front of you, and open a portal to the beyond. This is the musical score to tapping into the universe and powering up on the cosmos. This is the real deal. You just need to open your brain and let it come in.
‘The Glass Curtain’ drops 4/25. Preorder it here. Check out the video for “Systol Nightshade” below, directed by Detroit filmmaker Joseph Querio.
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