Chad Hoefler – Quiet Glow (Lotuspike Records)

Ohio-based ambient producer Chad Hoefler’s debut album “Twilight In The Offing’ was released last year on Californian ambient label Hypnos to significant critical acclaim, and this follow-up on Pennsylvania-based imprint Lotuspike seems certain to develop his reputation further. As its title suggests, “Quiet Glow’ is thematically centred around light moving over objects and through space, and perhaps one of the biggest (and probably intentional) ironies is that it’s one of the best albums to listen to in near-complete darkness I’ve heard in some time. Opening track “Incipience Electric’ counterbalances blissful ringing harmonic tones, insect-like buzzes and washing ambient pads with a veiled sense of underlying menace generated through the use of yawning bass chords that never quite recedes, imbuing much of the material with an intangibly dark edge that prevents proceedings from drifting into “lava lamp’ ambience. “Radiant Blue’ meanwhile introduces sparse metallic-sounding percussive tones and dubbed-out echoes into an ebbing backdrop of ambient warmth in a manner that beautifully contrasts delicate and harsh elements and also betrays Hoefler’s classical training. A strong second album from Hoefler, topped off with a typically meticulous mixing job by US ambient/space music figurehead Robert Rich.