MIGUEL ANGEL TOLOSA: Ephimeral       CD   Sofa Music

Tonal Dark Ambient is the order of the day, on this third full-length affair from Madrid’s Miguel Angel Tolosa.

Rich undercurrents of grit scuttle over a sea of low-end pads; that reach out to the heavens in a subtle desperation.  With the odd flash of field recordings to pad out an atmosphere, Tolosa has left space for his gentle drone work to provide light where there is shade; and when they do appear, they provide a welcome respite from the murky depths from which this album was born.

As a whole, this is by no means a game changer in the DA community.  However, with this album, Miguel can safely sit on the fringe of the genre; providing value to that scene, whilst crossing over to other ambient territories as a stable bridge.

As calm as it is unnerving, ‘Ephimeral’ is a solid piece of work that is as necessary and as urgent as that produced by many of his peers.

8/10