Fortresses
Hear
de2718
Label:
Dragon’s Eye Recordings
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Release date:
July 21, 2023
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Listen | Purchase:
Bandcamp | Spotify
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Track Listing:
1. Hear
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Duration:
7:31
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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:
London-based musician Fortresses returns to Dragon’s Eye Recordings with his fourth release on the label. Made during the fall of 2022, Hear emerged from an intense period of processing; for the artist, it stands as a milestone at the end of a difficult year.
Much like Near, his most recent release with DER, Hear expands upon Fortresses’ creative exercises in patience. It is a gorgeous and grounded demonstration of restraint, allowing the negative spaces tucked among the notes and chords to stand out all the greater. Just as the naked tree branches shiver stark and leafless against silver autumn skies, Hear embodies a cyclic where excess falls away and the skeleton is laid bare. And when there is little else to strip away, what’s gone becomes just as apparent as what remains.
Fortresses remains connected to the origins of his first two releases, Eve and Spring— Hear also crackles with airy hints of field recordings made in his native East London during periods of seasonal change. But now, tones gently dip lower than before. It instead possesses a more solemn, grounded nature than its ethereal counterparts, echoing the earthy denouement of his world as it prepares for winter.
When autumnal weather dampens the bright colors and dulls the sounds of vitality, we settle in. Hear prepares us for just that; and through its meditative nature, it captures the gradual shifts towards stillness as all things come to rest.
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Reviews:
Stationary Travels
After a diversion to the misty forests of Oregon, Sam Ashton’s Fortresses project returns with a new sonic journey rooted closer to home. His forthcoming new long form track Hear was made during the fall of last year and captures an essence of autumn on the streets of an East London preparing for winter.
Once again deftly weaving field recordings into a deeply introspective soundscape, the rustling of leaves across concrete and tarmac permeates each undulating wave of melody until one can almost see the steely skies above and feel the crisp autumn air rushing by. While the track will not be available for download until next month, you can find refuge from the summer heat right here with this exclusive premiere, so grab a pair of headphones, a cool drink, and find a quiet, comfortable place to pull up and enjoy.