Tracing Back the Radiance

Some records aren’t as simple as they seem. Most are capsules of beauty and creative vision, or sublime objects of expression which occupy the abstract realms. But the rare few are also discrete philosophies, realized in sound – a truth brought to the forefront by Mexican Summer veteran, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma’s, latest venture, Tracing Back The Radiance. A radical departure from pop drenched melodies which have defined his recent efforts, its experimental forms offer a dynamic rethinking of the terms and possibilities of discourse and collaboration – a vast ambient landscape of abstraction, texture, and tone, beneath which lingers a veiled vision, addressing the challenges of our increasingly disassociated age. A slow, delicate meditation – open space punctuated by the restrained harmonics of vibraphone, processing, flute, pedal steel, synthesizer, piano, organ, and voice, Tracing Back The Radiance grew from a few simple piano lines, a need for change, and an evolving process which fell somewhere between conversation, singular vision, and a wild game of exquisite corpse – Cantu-Ledesma acting as contributor, servant, and guiding force to the emerging album’s all-star cast of voices – John Also Bennett, Marilu Donavan, Chuck Johnson, Gregg Kowalsky, Mary Lattimore, David Moore, Meara O’Reilly, Jonathan Sielaff, Roger Tellier Craig, and Christopher Tignor, each responding and intervening from various corners of North America.

The experimental ambient musician's latest work is his most beatific and generous yet. It features a rotating cast of musicians, and feels like it is hovering off of the ground.

The Californian multi-instrumentalist takes a tranquil left-turn on new LP

Over a lengthy career arc, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma has explored various facets of ambient music, ranging from the bleary shoegaze distortion of his 2010 debut, Love Is a Stream, to experiments with heavily processed beats and underwater pop melodies on later works like 2017's On the Echoing Green.

Having brought along a cast of incredibly talented and exploratory musicians, veteran ambient musician Jefre Cantu-Ledesma returns to the Me...