Wil Bolton – Surface Reflections
Wil Bolton – Surface Reflections
Wil Bolton is an ambient artist making predominantly sound-based works for both music releases and installations, often enhanced with video or photography. His work has been shown in many exhibitions and festivals and has also worked on projects with video artists, choreographers and dancers.
Surface Reflections is his second album for the specialist label Sound In Silence. It consists of five long-form tracks of warm ambient, with a total duration of about 44 minutes. Blending layers of field recordings, recorded in Hong Kong and focused on everyday sounds, with delicate loops of guitars and synths, manipulated and edited with effect pedals and laptop processing.
This is a hazy affair. The music flickers like some indistinct reflective object far off on the horizon. Surface Reflections never really take us any nearer to knowing whats causing that shine. Indeed the album doesn’t really take us anywhere at all… and takes its time in doing so. This is a meandering, hypnotic long player that brings to mind ambient pioneers such as Eno or Nelson but also recalls the quiet segues of Bark Psychosis and Labradford.
Mastered by label head, George Mastrokostas (Absent Without Leave) this is a limited edition of 200 handmade and hand-numbered collectible copies. Like all Sound In Silence releases it is lovingly packaged. This time in hand-stamped 127mm x 127mm 280 gsm burgundy cardboard envelope with the front cover image printed on a polaroid style photo paper and an insert with the tracklist and the credits printed on a 170 gsm mocha brown cardboard. You get a download code too. If you enjoy your ambient neat or on the rocks, check out Surface Reflections.