Avi C. Engel

Album Reviews:

2025: Nocturne (Sound for an Invisible Film)

Nocturne (Sound for an Invisible Film)

  1. Near Snake Island
  2. Where Does a Moth Go?
  3. Nostalgia, a Saccharine Poison
  4. Bones Beguiling
  5. E Minor Fermented
  6. Into the Golden Void
  7. Night Walk in the Loon Sanctuary
  8. Ariel
  9. Cocoon

Album: Fan Recommendation | Genre: Dark Folk, Chamber Folk | Undertones: Ambient Folk, Slowcore | Label: N/A

Eye in swirling aether

Quiet and literarily introspective ambient folk stressing the slow unfolding of emotions and inner coastlines over visible action, “Nocturne (Soundtrack for an Invisible Film)” lives up to every box checked in its title – from the alluded music form to ambiance and supposed purpose, its very slow cinematographic pull demands attentive ears. Sparsely instrumented, the slowly plucked guitars, minimal percussive elements (not unlike Mark Hollis in its emphasis on stillness), and rustling sounds of bowed string instruments build up a cavernous atmosphere where everything moves at stalactite-speed. And while it comes in rationed doses, it’s really Engel’s vocals that pull the song sequence together – centered but distant, warm and felty, with a lost, pausing quality.