Reedale Rise – Luminous Air – Kondi

Luminous Air - Reedale Rise

Reedale Rise releases his debut LP “Luminous Air”

Since making in his debut in 2015, Simon Keat aka Reedale Rise has been making and releasing some seriously exquisite sounds. Having put out a brace of EPs for the ever sprightly Dutch Electro imprint Frustrated Funk, alongside more recent material for Hizou Deep Rooted Music and Spæcial Recordings – there’s a soothing quality that permeates all of his work. Managing to straddle the best moods and grooves of classic labels such as Planet E, Transmat, Seventy City, Somewhere in Detroit and fuse them with his own Drexciyan twist. Keat is fully in touch with his UK roots, owing as much to the vibes of Good Looking and Moving Shadow as he does B12 and WARP.

If you enjoy sounds that lean more towards the melodic edge of the electronic spectrum, “Luminous Air” for Danish taste makers Kondi won’t disappoint. Full of poise and thoughtful harmonics, Keat pursues a line across the 11 tracks that make up this journey: delicately weaving a serene mesh of airy synth pads, tweakin’ leads, crunchy beats arranged to some good old fashioned analogue basslines that are heavy on the sub. It’s really hard not to be drawn in, tune out and to kick back in this mode. In fact, it perfectly sums up everything that is good about what he does: injecting elative ambience into the sphere of what can be a pretty tough-edged genre at times.

Luminous Air

Getting down to business, the opening breathiness of the title track “Luminous Air” bears a warm and expansive touch that blissfully ushers you in. Immediately countered by the spaced out feelings of “Astral Flex”, the direction goes a little bit more horizontal. Not wanting to rest too far back on his heels, the precision shimmer of “Medusozoa” and “Ancient Intelligence” gently snap you back around. The angular folds of “Kerris” inject a more earthy feel at this point, whilst the off-kilter tones of “Canopy of Light” make for a less obvious pause.

Moving to the staccato like roll of “Shimmering”, Keat then punches back up with the classical pulses of “Distance Between Waves” – only to bliss you back into the room with the jazzy introspection offered by  “Rosetta”. The total immersion of “Ascending Petal” summons possibly the most outer reaches of the cosmic vapour. While last but not least, the subtle reach of “Harbour” rounds off this sumptuous trip.

There is much to admire in Keat’s approach and ultimately, the way this album has been lovingly crafted and brought together. To put it another way, “Luminous Air” is one big fuzzy joyful ride that’ll breeze you through a tough day by reminding you exactly what it feels like to start your summer holiday.