Umber is Alex Steward: an English musician who records beautiful, delicate ambient music in a bedroom-studio out in the English countryside. With an approach to craft that reminds me of fellow countrymen – Message to Bears – Umber’s Morning’s Pass conjures the sleep-filled moments of the early morning, the coming of the dawn, and the final slide into waking. Here’s a bit more from the release: “Morning’s Pass resists the cliché of instrumental builds by mirroring the very sensation of the sun rising. Rather than developing in loudness, Alex subtly encourages then winds down the music – just as dawn signals the arrival of day, but also the gentle recession of the night. As a result, the listener is happily suspended in an intoxicating and immersive experience, hovering in mist-covered horizon normally only witnessed by the early-risers.”
Morning’s Pass is a beautiful exercise in gentility and reflection, and it’s easy to see why some have called it: “…the perfect encapsulation of dawn: from the first change of colour in the night’s sky, to the hazy mist of a summer’s morning. But as an ambient record, it also delivers an intense atmosphere of emotions: the sedated lullaby of sleepy eyes, the discovery of a new world, and the final triumph of daybreak over darkness.”
Here’s “Spark Mountain” from Morning’s Pass:
[audio:https://www.shh-listen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Spark-Mountain.mp3|titles=Spark Mountain] Download
And here’s the stream from Umber’s Bandcamp page. You can find more info there, or on Umber’s Facebook Page. Morning’s Pass is released on June 27th, and I highly recommended picking it up!