Indigolab ~ The Last Cartographer of Dreams

Be free.

Enter this sanctuary, where sparkling rivers flow and ambient waterfalls are covered in the fluffy foam of white, celestial clouds; chimes rock against the cool breeze, mirroring the clarity of the air after the rain has fallen. Disappearing like a dream, the humidity is broken by cushioned, chordal kisses; a lingering strum on a crystal clear guitar. It’s not a dream, but a state of mind.

Dreamy descriptions have been around as long as ambient music has been alive, but the cliche, although worn and torn like a favourite pair of blue jeans, is an acceptable one. Dreams have an ethereal, airy quality that can’t be grasped, like that of high quality ambient music; the tear in reality is there, and Indigolab has ripped it open further still. Through this tear, spectral, prismatic colours shine.

The deeper, beat-orientated tracks are beautifully lit voyages into another universe. Syncopated electronic beats swoon like the descent of soft rain. Feathery female vocals soar through creamy clouds of vanilla, swirling inside levels of lost reverb. White clouds blossom outwards on pillars of gas, abiding in a far-flung galaxy that traces a line across the beams of infinity.

The Last Cartographer of Dreams is a star map to a place of eternal hope, one that we can all build together if we only try.

“Dreamland” is a track you just can’t help but love, where major and minor sevenths –  the two chilled kings you can rely on – caress your soul and leave gorgeous, swirling contrails in their wake. Casual, yet focused vibes shine like halos, circular illusions dressed as returning beats, reverberating like surf breaking affectionately against the shore; the lost, endless blue sea to the exciting discovery of found land. The creatures of the deep softly cry the call of signalling sirens. Deeper, the music treks into the dense, lush jungles of dub, where intrepid fangs latch onto the thunder-heavy rhythms.

Indigolab pads out the splashes of rhythm with surety and awareness – an ear is always on the state of dreaming as the eyes close. Phosphorescent temples of dub are concealed by emerald leaves. Sustaining in beautiful delay, the rhythms serenely swim in coolly hydrated spheres. The sirens are alluring, fingers cutting through the air as they call you out into the deep. Love sounds like this. Her long hair blows against the breeze, but then the indistinct images flare up as if it was the end of a projector’s reel, sleek, black film disappearing into the distance.

“The Portal” will lead you through the colourful void, into a deeper realm only open to receptive believers. Dream and reality beautifully blur beyond recognition, beyond understanding.  “A Reflection of Things to Come” is the reawakening, the re-entry for a conscious mind rising out of its cocoon. It’s a sonic boom into the blue, leading you safely home. The vocal is the reassuring presence of humanity, something to snap the trance as the music fades. Ambient dub is a shy genre – you have to fly into brave terrain to discover a gem. Indigolab is in the zone, and the last cartographer holds the treasure. (James Catchpole)

Available here