Mads Emil Nielsen - Black Box 3 [Arbitrary 014]

Once again put out on the circuit via his very own imprint that is Arbitrary is "Black Box 3", the latest, December 9th, 2k22-released album by Danish composer Mads Emil Nielsen. Spanning a total of six compositions rolled out over a total of 40 minutes, the original sound sources for the creation of this album were tracks created for both exhibit installations as well as contemporary dance performances, now reworked and re-edited to make up a coherent album piece as a singular work of art. Starting from a place of minimalist Dark Ambient paired with what seem to be atmospheric loops of Field Recordings and scattered Tribal drums to be found in "Installation - 2" we see Nielsen further progress into frosty gusts of icy winds alongside stripped down harmonic vintage synth progressions found in the ethereal off-world Ambient of "Untitled (Wind)" whereas "Climbing Plants" amalgamates captured cricket sounds, soft filtered sweeps and occasional tectonic rumbles in a well nocturnal, highly focused manner. The subsequent "Installation - 1" continues on a path of subdued, yet speaker-shaking drum pulses as a backbone for more sonic hyperminimalism which are followed by the naturalistic bliss of "Untitled (Branches)" taking you straight into your favorite grove of choice before "Vibrations" provides a closure built from tender low end movements, more crickets and what seems to be Field Recordings of subsurface waters, probably located in some humungous cave somewhere. If minimalist Deep Listening Music is your jam, this one is well worth your time and money.

Album artwork on Instagram!