Sonorous Circle

“The Christchurch duo create ambient soundscapes that are at once beautiful and harsh. If words like ‘textural’, ‘layered’ and ‘cosmic’ give you warm feelings, this five-track project should to be emanating from your speakers ASAP. And don’t fall into the trap of treating ambient music as background music – The Dying Light has melodies, moments… heck, even hooks. Opener ‘The Power of You’ sets the mood at ‘awe’, but things quickly take a turn on ‘Perceiving the Pleroma’ with some dark blasts of noise that would get a respectful nod from Sunn O))). The title track indulges in a drum beat and some vocals, even – it’s pop on a timescale stretched out almost to infinity. Fans of video game soundtracks should give this a go, as it will conjure familiar feelings of pure wonder.” – Mitchell Houlbrooke (Album of the Week, thespinoff.co.nz)

“I’m smitten by this record… The six tracks here make sly references to traditional violin phrasing from folk music and gypsy jazz… It’s a burnished, hovering, ever-mutating sound, beautiful and anxious by turns. Some songs seem to set off little sonic flares in the darkness. Others are stippled with glitches, overdrive distortion and earth hum. The fact Clarke also rolls her glorious thick contralto voice over some pieces is almost a bonus.” (Grant Smithies, Sunday Star Times)