Lacus Somniorum: Tideshaper arrives with two years delay

August 12th 2008, by Tobias |

Gustaf Hildebrand is finally making true on his promise of a new musical direction by releasing “Tideshaper” under the moniker of Lacus Somniorum on Cyclic Law this Autumn. Hildebrand had already announced the project as far back as 2006, almost exactly two years ago to the day, but for various, unspecified reasons, the actual street date got pushed back time and time again. A collaborative unison with Ontario-based Amanda Votta of The Floating World, the album will see Votta’s skeletised, floating Flute whispers search for a safe passage through Hildebrand’s spatious, rumbling Dark Ambient soundscapes. Also including sonorous choral passages, pre-release extracts reveal an album which seamlessly combines elements from Tribal music, experimental electronics, contemporary composition and cosmic Krautrock.

The new project by Hildebrand and Votta, entitled Lacus Somniorum in reference to “a plain located in the northeastern part of the Moon's near side”, is a top priority for both artists, with Hildebrand proclaiming his solo career “dormant” and Amanda Votta stating her pride in the final result. A first concert in Montreal, organised by Cyclic Law, proved to be a major success and a first indication how much the scene has been waiting for an album truly offering an alternative to the stereotypically sinister ruminations the genre usually specialises in.

For the label, too, the album comes as a welcome surprise. “Lacus Somniorum emerged as a mutual desire to convey a suggestive concept of what lies hidden and unseen by the eyes of modern civilization--beneath the waves in murky chasms, or perhaps in places not anchored within our concept of reality”, Frederic Arbour, head of Cyclic Law stated in his press release, “The underlying concept is not fear of the unknown, but rather of a hidden beauty within those places where none of us will ever venture.”

After a tentative release date of July has already been postponed, “Tideshaper” is now scheduled for August or September.

Homepage: Lacus Somniorum
Homepage: Cyclic Law