Ruxpin & Stafraenn Hakon - Meet Me In Forever [Sound In Silence 098]

Put out on the circuit via the Greek Ambient x ChillOut staple Sound In Silence on February 20th, 2k23 is "Meet Me In Forever", the very first collaboration album crafted and conceived by Icelandic producers Ruxpin and Stafraenn Hakon. With both artists having appeared on the label previously in other contexts more than a decade ago their duo effort results in a total of 12 brand new tracks rolled out over an hour of total playtime, starting from a point of unexpectedly dancefloor friendly NuDisco / Romantic House sporting dreamy guitar licks and washed out atmospheres in "Flawless Delivery" before "Unmapped Landscapes" are following a similar, yet more Broken Beat- / Broken House-oriented path which leads into the gentle, Electronica-informed Downbeat of "Cloud Surf 1985" as well as the subsequent, well dark'ish slow motion panorama TripHop of "Odesa". With "Delayed Goodbyes" Ruxpin and Stafraenn Hakon are taking a turn towards slightly kitschy, shoegazing Indietronica x hyperdreamy PostRock Pop crossovers for young Indie girls in love whilst "Second Breath" harks back to a TechHouse-compatible Romantic House attitude for daytime festival crowds, "Footsteps" are in for more large scale panoramic Downtempo landscapes well suitable for Ibiza sunsets whereas the "Dark Rift" indeed takes its complex drum patterns to cavernous, light deprived and melancholia-inducing places. Furthermore "Angeyja" enters deeply intricate Glitchtronica realms for highly advanced dancefloors, "Offshore" follows with a dark, heavy and sluggish TripHop foundation garnished with airy guitar movements and occasional vocal samples before the haunted, björk'esque "Reunited (If That's What You Want)" heads back to 4/4 driven club floors and the final cut that is "What We Need" rounds things off with a last round of classic Electronica vibes. Probably the most beat driven and club-focused album release on Sound In Silence so far, this.