Transtilla - Transtilla I [Opa Loka Records]

Released via Opa Loka Records on February 22nd, 2k19 is Transtilla, the first album by long time collaborators Anne-Chris Bakker and Romke Kleefstra who've worked together on several occasions and in several group outings over the past decade. With their new project they present a selection of five tracks on this album opening with "Skaftatfellsfjara", a 12+ minutes excursion into glacial, droning and slowly time-dissolving Ambient beauty with a hint of fluttering unrest whilst the subsequent "Lavender And Mulberry, 1959" brings forth a crackly, vintage and slightly Clicks'n'Cuts-infused take on the genre which could've well been produced somewhen in the late 90s / early 00s vibewise. With "Poassen" we see the two artists indulge in a world of excellent Indietronica / deep PostRock and cater the most comforting and interesting track of the album whilst touching base with PopAmbient as well, "Skura" introduces a yearning, longing, melancholia-infused Ambient atmosphere accompanied by dithering string sadness progressing into a widescreen miderange crescendo over the course of its 15+ minutes runtime and the final cut "Rudzki" amalgamates more beatless melancholia with distorted, progressively more intense pulses, evoking memories of classic Dark Ambient works like the ones once featured on Christoph De Babalon's seminal classic "If You're Into It I'm Out Of It". This one could be going down as our favorite release on Opa Loka Records so far.

Album artwork on Instagram!