“Ocean Became Light” by Dirk Serries

Although he retired his vidnaObmana ambient project nearly two decades ago, Dirk Serries has continued releasing music, and no one could ever accuse him of resting on his laurels. He’s released over 30 titles in the last two years alone, ranging from solo works to collaborations with Rodrigo Amado, Benedict Taylor, Trösta, and his wife, Martina Verhoeven.

The title of Serries’ latest album, Infinite and Unbound, is quite apropos. Using nothing more than an electric guitar and some effects pedals, he creates vast soundscapes that drift, shimmer, and unfurl with seemingly no end in sight. As such, a song like “Ocean Became Light” can prove just as ominous and foreboding as it is beautiful and entrancing. Serries’ drone-work is often likened to Chihei Hatakeyama’s, though I find Serries more surreal and even alien in comparison to Hatakeyama’s naturalistic atmospheres, though no less sublime and ephemeral.

Infinite and Unbound is currently available via Projekt Records.