Fortresses
Spring
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Label:
Dragon’s Eye Recordings
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Release date:
December 3, 2021
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Listen | Purchase:
Bandcamp | Spotify
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Track Listing:
1. Spring
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Duration:
8:19
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Credits:
Performed, composed, recorded, and mixed by Sam Ashton.
Mastered by Taylor Deupree.
Cover photography by Sam Ashton.
Cover design and layout by Yann Novak.
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Press release:
After the acclaim for his debut EP Eve, Dragon’s Eye Recordings is pleased to announce the re-release of Fortresses’ Spring. The single, which the artist self-released in 2020, is an exquisite companion to Eve.
As the Northern Hemisphere closes in on the shortest days while the Southern soon slides into summer, Spring also slowly rotates through gentle transitions. Lush and airy sounds bring an embodied awareness reminiscent of the early morning: Drones, like the sun, slowly ascend with growing radiance. The subtle melody, like a dawning, heartens the darkness behind our eyes to become a soft glowing amber, crimson, gold. Calmly, from the hints of static and quiet knocks, we awaken.
In these gestures of revival and renewal, Spring serves as an antidote to the dreary slough of winter; it reminds of that warmth that gathers before summer. It manifests the pleasant, ethereal moments at the end of a night’s sleep, just before opening our eyes, lingering in the amber; it shares the hope of a new season twinkling upon the horizon.
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Reviews/Features:
Igloo Magazine
After the acclaim for his debut EP Eve, Dragon’s Eye Recordings is pleased to announce the re-release of Fortresses’ “Spring.” The single, which the artist self-released in 2020, is an exquisite companion to Eve. This 8-minute single is beautifully crafted, subtly choreographed with an elegance that is both uplifting and mesmerizing. Natural foley is gently massaged by the warmth of the glowing pads throughout. There is also a hint of orchestral notes that in all wrap the sonic field within a organic binding. Take a moment out of your day to sit back, or go for a walk with this soundtrack. Simply gorgeous.
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Stationary Travels
It was only last month we were singing the praises of multidisciplinary artist Sam Ashton’s debut EP as Fortresses. Eve carried us through the arc of a day spent among the streets and gardens of London through an ambient triptych fashioned from field recordings, manipulated guitar, and synths that portrayed portraying its shifting patterns of light, shadow, temperature, and color. The formula that made the album work so well is evident in a stand-alone piece called “Spring” which Ashton put out on his own last year and which Dragon’s Eye Recordings will be treating to a well-deserved label release in December.
Considered together, “Spring” serves as both a fitting prequel and companion to the more expansive Eve, taking a similar plein air approach to creating gentle undulations to simulate the comforts of a pastoral setting and the promise of a new season. You can preview the piece in this exclusive video premiere filmed by Jamie Jenkinson which places the music in the midst of an outdoor walk from an immersive point of view. Those of us in northern hemisphere witnessing autumn come to a close may want to bookmark this to return to for a hopeful reminder of what is to come once winter takes hold.