Billow Observatory : The Glass Curtain

The duo Billow Observatory -consisting of Auburn Lull’s Jason Kolb and Causa Sui’s Jonas Munk- are a transatlantic ambient/instrumental project. Since 2012 these two musicians have been sharing, manipulating, cutting and pasting music files back and forth across the Atlantic. They turn guitars and electronics into something completely new and engaging. With their 2012 debut the sonic landscape they created was dark and amorphous. A journey through the blackness of space(or possibly subconscious) finding bits of light and melody throughout. They make ambient music for people that don’t think they like ambient music; swirling bits of shoegaze, dream pop, and psychedelia into the mix.

Each successive album after the tones got lighter, yet still mysterious. More percussive and rhythmic, coming to a head with 2022s Stareside. Stareside was the project’s brightest moment with hues of sunsets and morning light. But with their newest effort, The Glass Curtain, Kolb and Munk return to the more amorphous, shapeless sounds of the band’s debut. Gone are the rhythmic pulses and sunrise brightness. The Glass Curtain has a feeling of floating in space and time, free of the need for schedules, time frames, and the rhythm of the day in, day out. This is an album of taking your time getting to nowhere in-particular. A musical journey into the subconscious, blasting the everyday grind into clouds of meditative bliss.

The Glass Curtain savors sitting in the fuzz of thought. Until the thought dissipates into particles, carried away in a hazy dream. The nine songs here feel like a continuous line of clouds, as you lay in grass watching them slip by. “Broken City” opens on mysterious swirls of noise, building into a synthetic symphony. Sound sitting in the grey, building to transcendence(if you dig that sort of thing.) “Systol Nightshade” hangs in Vangelis territory. The sound of rain mixing with a sense of gauzy peace. Sparse sound that makes a big impression. And title track “The Glass Curtain” is funereal but not maudlin. Like finding the bridge from one world to the next.

From the synthetic buzz of “Shadow Through The Eyelet”, symphonic landscape of “Arise and Perish” and the epic nearly 10-minute closer “Sundial”, Billow Observatory have made a thoughtful, impressionistic music journey with The Glass Curtain. Masterful sound manipulation with plenty of emotional depth. An amorphous and emotional musical statement.