Prolific Ambient Artists Team Up with a New Project - Underwater Sleep Orchestra

Prolific composer Pär Boström (Cities Last Broadcast / Kammarheit) and Bruce Moallam (God Body Disconnect) are among the definers of modern cinematic dark ambient, and now the two have joined forces with a new collaborative project called Underwater Sleep Orchestra, and their debut album, The Night and Other Sunken Dreams, a lengthy collection of tracks telling the tales of two different dreams: one is described as “a nightmarish trip within blurry worlds”, and the other “a nostalgic journey about things real and unreal”. The pedigree of the artists involved compels fans of this musical genre to listen, and this album presents a languorous, textured approach to dreamy, subdued synthetics all finally interpolated through VHS tape. 

The album unfolds from the first tracks in a slow, methodical pattern, gently drawing forth an increasing momentum, but waning, just keeping the apex out of reach of the subconscious, much like a dream. The third track, Worms Within, begins the invocation of the nightmare, as mentioned in the album’s description, with a layer of cicadas that add a creeping unease to the dissonant, organic textures that ebb from the music. It is an ebb and flow with the sounds and music of this album, as one track may present a rising tension or a gnawing unease, whereas the next track delicately draws the tension back, only to slowly swell forward once more, presenting an aural ocean, and yes, the feeling of being underwater in your subconscious - that state just before awakening from a dream.

This album is not merely a reflection of a nightmare dreamscape, however, as there are plenty of moments of blissful languor, of merely drifting along the transom of the dreaming subconscious, and only the listener’s mind can interpret the sights of the dreams, as the gentle pads and textured mallets drone further into the atmosphere.

This album is described by the artists as “Music for lost dreamers and admirers of solemn underwater music, previously only heard in dreams” and the two prolific soundsmiths, Boström and Moallem, have delivered exactly that. You can purchase The Night and Other Sunken Dreams in CD Digipak and digital format on the Cryo Chamber Bandcamp page.