Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce cd pre-orders and digital availability for the third album by American ambient craftsman Wes Willenbring, Weapons Reference Manual.

As a further progression from his acclaimed debut Somewhere Someone Else and his stunning sophomore album Close, But Not Too Close, Weapons Reference Manual features a varied and richly hued palette of visceral guitar tones, effects-warped textures and achingly beautiful piano work. Immersive and darkly emotive soundscapes, such as droning opener ‘Dreams and Schemes’ and the 15-minute epic ‘Quaaludes’, are counterbalanced by seductively melodic pieces, such as ‘People Disappear Everyday’ and closing track ‘Ashes’. Meanwhile, single ‘Consequences of Recklessness’ is Weapons Reference Manual’s shimmering centrepiece, setting icicles of delayed guitar amid an aching tapestry of drones and feedback. It sets the tone for the album as a whole, perhaps Willenbring’s most complex and satisfying release to date.

 “a gorgeous ambient album … a serene, hypnotic and majestic soundscape suitable for daydreaming… hauntingly beautiful atmospheric compositions” – Delusion Of Adequacy on Close, But Not Too Close

“Absolutely gorgeous. Dreamy dark meandering melancholia for fans of Stars Of The Lid, Eluvium, Dead Texan, Tim Hecker, Godspeed and other purveyors of darkly dramatic, abstract moody minimalism” – Aquarius Records on Somewhere Someone Else

Weapons Reference Manual is available now for CD pre-order and digital download. The CD release comes as a numbered limited edition of 200.  Official CD release and ship date is the 4th of May. Check out the Hidden Shoal Store for all details.

Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the release of ‘Se fosse per me’, the new single by Italian ambient electronica artist Elisa Luu, taken from her forthcoming second album.  Download the track for free here.

Blossoming into life like a field of neon flowers, ‘Se fosse per me’ is all eyes-wide and life-affirming. It imbues its wistful tones with light through buoyant beats and skittering horns, leading into a reflective textured coda. Elisa Luu’s trademark blend of digital manipulation with analogue warmth, chiming tones with immersive drones, is on virtuoso display, whetting the appetite for her upcoming second album Un Giorno Sospeso.

Though digitally crafted, Elisa Luu’s music is warm, inviting and uniquely human, betraying a vulnerability and sensitivity that is rarely found in the male-dominated sphere of electronica. With its sighing, lilting qualities, Elisa Luu’s music reawakens a sense of childlike wonder and adventure with every sprawling and sparkling track. This alchemical touch is in full bloom on long-awaited second album Un Giorno Sospeso, which takes the glorious blueprint of debut Chromatic Sigh and accentuates the highlights and shadows, making for a deliciously disorientating trip.

“fully-formed music-making that blends melody-based song structures and bold instrumental arrangements into a thoroughly satisfying whole” – Textura

“an astonishingly talented artist, crafting immersive and emotive soundfields with ease” – Luna Kafe

Head to the Hidden Shoal Store to grab the track and hear more from Elisa Luu ahead of her sophomore album Un giorno sospeso, out 1st June.

Here’s some nice news ahead of Wes Willenbring’s forthcoming album Weapons Reference Manual. Anyone who caught the final episode of Skins season 6 would have heard Willenbring’s gorgeous track ‘As You Fade Away’ featured. The song is lifted from his debut album Somewhere Someone Else.

Don’t forget to download ‘Consequences of Recklessness‘, the free single from Weapons Reference Manual, while awaiting album pre-order availability on the 12th of April.

Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the signing of Wizards Of Time to its roster of artists. Wizards Of Time deftly unleash technicolour art-rock like lightning bolts from their nimble fingers. Progressive without being prog and pop without being pap, the Wizards’ debut release Will The Soft Curse Plague On? is a staggering and unique concept album that weaves a universe-enveloping tapestry of dizzying complexity and emotional depth. They are the music makers, the makers of music, the slingers of sound. They are the Wizards Of Time…

Wizards Of Time came together in 2008 with the mutual aim to explore unfamiliar songwriting territory. Over the next couple of years, the band wrote, arranged, and performed live the songs that would be found on their debut album. In 2010, WOT assembled with engineer/producer Scott Solter to call down Will The Soft Curse Plague On? The rest is mystery.

Will The Soft Curse Plague On? is released by Hidden Shoal on 26 June, preceded by single ‘Little’s Jingle’ on 23 April. In the meanwhile head over to FaceBook, join the Wizard Of Time clan and await the goodness!