ILUITEQ – The Light Inside, The Dark Outside
Ambient Italian duo ILUITEQ release their third album The Light Inside, The Dark Outside via specialist label n5MD. It’s the pairs second long player for n5 following last autumns The Loss of Wilderness and where last years release was clearly influenced by covid and other global uncertainties this follow up pursues a more optimistic path. Conceived to nourish the hope that lives within us all, The Light Inside, The Dark Outside is a similarly nebulous proposition to its predecessor. (Think of a more vapourised Hammock) However I see this one as a true sequel in the sense that it takes up its forerunners baton and goes somewhere else with it. That ‘somewhere’ is toward warmth, hope…..light.
These seven pieces are less somber than The Loss of Wilderness, less inert. There’s more of a sense of motion on this new album, whether toward a more hopeful future or simply within oneself. Aside from the odd moment of ominousness these wordless compositions cradle and nurture the listener in the most comforting of manner. In my day, this would have been called chillout but I think it would be a mistake to lump this into the ‘relaxation’ type genre. There’s more here. The Loss of Wilderness ached for healing. The Light Inside, The Dark Outside has already begun to provide.
The Light Inside, The Dark Outside is out now on the n5MD label. Transparent Orange vinyl and digital via Bandcamp.