WASIP-005

Released: Feb 28, 2025

Scattered Light • /ˈskadərd līt/ A natural agent, occurring or found at intervals or various locations, that stimulates sight and makes things visible. Also known as: dispersed illumination.

Examples include: 1.) Sunbeams pushing through forest trees. 2.) Stars in the night sky, separated by space. 

Scattered Light's newest album, Unfurl, was made to capture the feeling of being isolated in the wild. Not afraid or lost, but quite the opposite: at peace in nature, soaking in all of the outdoor elements. Finding oneself while being one with one's surroundings.

The LP is an eight song deep dive into the comforts of the woods. Rushing streams, scenic cliff sides, vibrant canopies, and quiet fields. At nearly an hour in length, this meditative ambient album is as soothing and calming as they come.

Using a combination of reel-to-reel recordings, granular synths, and layered instrumentation, Scattered Light masterfully paints pictures through his immersive soundscapes. The opening track "Mist" feels like waking up with the dawn and soaking in the newborn rays of sun, while the closing track "Fade" feels like watching the sunset from a panoramic vista and noticing the world growing more silent. From start to finish, this album feels like a single day. Sunrise to sunset. Dawn to dusk. 

In the words of Scattered Light's own bio, the end result of his sound can often feel like "repeating fragments of some long-forgotten broadcast station." Like unearthing distant memories. Like digging a hole in a national park and finding an old box of cassettes.

His fourth album in just as many years, and a fine follow-up to 2024's Drift (a three song, hour-long project), Unfurl further builds his atmospheric discography, one textured backdrop at a time. "An undergrowth of sound," he describes, "with glimpses and glimmers of light."

Unfurl is an album of one word titles, like "Horizon", "Monolith", and "Emerge", where every song exceeds five minutes (and one, "Snug", even exceeds 10). Through and through, these are ambient sound baths made to soothe wandering minds and tame errant thoughts. Drowsy tranquility and hushed harmonies, rooted in calm.

If you visit Scattered Light's Instagram account (I highly recommend you do), you'll see analog gear setups with minimalistic white backgrounds and lush vegetation. Organic visualizers acting as a much-needed timeline cleanse against the current climate of social media doom scrolling. His album is no different: a blissful and slowed moment of calm amidst the chaos and bustle of everyday life. An hour to sit and be at peace. An hour to sit and be.