Grey Dawn, Quaint Gardens is the debut LP of Celephais, a project created by Dutch intergalactic sound chasers Ian Martin (known for several releases on various labels as Enfant Terrible, Pinkman, Bunker, Diametric) and Jeroen Holthuis (also known as Onont Kombar from OV 001, as well as DJ Down The Rabbit Hole and a co-owner of Ordo Viatorum).
With the latter I had a strange encounter a few years ago in Amsterdam, at a birthday party. We didn’t know each other but we somehow started an epiphanic conversation about Guy Debord’s Society of Spectacle. Long story short, it was like he felt my vulnerability and hijacked my brain with eye opening thoughts about many of this age’ concerns. This is exactly how I felt recently when I heard the new release. Ideologically powerful but subtle, with a clear purpose of dissociating perception to that point of feeling generally contempt but also on opium.
The release consists of 6 tracks, each telling a slightly different version of the same story. The insistence of heavy synths and horns appear sometimes as pitched down sirens, announcing an air strike of much needed awareness bombs, straight from the cosmic abyss. Contemplative drones that transport the mind in a reality swamp; below sea level you get to hear the earth’s vibrations and energy flows, be it from the inside or the outside. In some pieces lost ritualistic soundscapes and infinite chords create a thin line between despair and ego-free wholeness. The rest is for each to discover.
There’s a certain maturity that comes with high quality ambient which is achieved with a lot of effort and years of experience in listening, digging, playing and producing. This album definitely has this feeling throughout and it is worth consuming several times in order to properly embody its intentions.
Tracklist:
A1. Undreamed DreamsA2. Resentful Of Awaking
A3. Damp Stone Spiral Stairway
B1. Red-Roofed Pagoda
B2. A Violet-Coloured Gas Told Him
B3. They Seemed To Gallop Back Through Time