Pilgrimage of the Soul is the 11th studio album in the 22-year career of Japanese experimental rock legends, MONO. Recorded and mixed – cautiously, anxiously, yet optimistically – during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020, Pilgrimage of the Soul is aptly named as it not only represents the peaks and valleys where MONO are now as they enter their third decade, but also charts their long, steady journey to this time and place. Continuing the subtle but profound creative progression in the MONO canon that began with Nowhere Now Here (2019), Pilgrimage of the Soul is the most dynamic MONO album to date (and that’s saying a lot). But where MONO’s foundation was built on the well-established interplay of whisper quiet and devastatingly loud, Pilgrimage of the Soul crafts its magic with mesmerizing new electronic instrumentation and textures, and – perhaps most notably – faster tempos that are clearly influenced by disco and techno. It all galvanizes as the most unexpected MONO album to date – replete with surprises and as awash in splendor as anything this band has ever done.

The album was produced by Dave Fridmann (Mogwai, Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips) and features guests Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails) and Colin Stetson (saxophonist who has collaborated with Bon Ivor, Arcade Fire). Recorded at Vada Studios, England by Tony Doogan (Grey Dogs, Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian) with Fridmann in full remote control from the US.
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This new album will please old fans and gain new as it has something for everyone. Both transcendent and surprising, As The Love Continues shows that Mogwai are still offering solace from the mundane, supplying the soundtrack to whatever movie you are making in your head.

“如果遥远天际中散烁的星星也有声音的话，那它听起来一定像是Mogwai这样”——《NME》杂志
又是几个苏格兰的孤独男人——Mogwai，和Arab Strap同属Chemikal Underground公司，以及后来北美最大的另类音乐公司Matador。受Sonic Youth和My Bloody Valentine的深处启发，甚至还有The Smashing Pumpkins(其实听听“Gish”未尾，便知Billy Corga也是在巨大的噪音中冰冷的质疑生活的变数)，当然还有Slint(后摇滚的启蒙人之一)90年代初就有的示范表演，只是Mogwai更迷于制造有巨大声响的哀伤之曲，徐徐推进沉稳的沉思，“Mogwai曾认为一段好的旋律，即使不断重复地演奏十分钟也会是好听的”。
相比Tortoise、Experimental Audio Research、Movietone等后摇滚代表，Mogwai稀少的人声反而是最多的，他们埋头精调细琢，爆发时比Bedhead更内敛些。用了大量新的吉它音色，把鼓调成如沉闷心跳的节奏，贝司厚重、缓和的流淌，淡然的声音若即若离的在音乐的边线，大段大段华丽轰鸣的段落起起伏伏。“当史诗般作品“Mogwai Fears Satan”结束整张专集的时候，Mogwai提升了整个后摇滚音乐的水平，创造新的音乐革命和情感力量，不同于所有当代的吉他为基本乐队的东西。”他们让音乐回归到心灵的无援之处，放弃了人声有时候对音乐过份的虚饰和为难，后摇滚实际上比摇滚乐多了更多可能的音乐语言，于“无声”处，音乐是第一位的，所以我想不是后摇滚结束了摇滚乐，而是新血滋生了新肉，后摇滚让摇滚乐有了另一重生命力。
1997年Mogwai《Young Team》问世时，不该的是这一年Radiohead的《OK Computer》大行其道，几乎拿走了所有的盛誉(而今又有多少人还在为《OK Computer》竖起耳朵就不得而知了)，好像没有人不喜欢滥美之词并热衷参于，总有一些人为了省事和嫌麻烦而容易满足追随。
世界由此喧嚣，愤怒大行其道，而它并非一律可贵，Mogwai也有啸杀感肆起的乐段，却嗜好把愤怒深埋在各种声效的表层下，他们坦诚了无助的脆弱，熨烫人心，由此得以自救，Mogwai不诅咒爱，却把矛头指向了生活对个性和人性的伤残，缓解了我们常年心头积压的心悸。
少年心气般的兴奋《Young Team》过后，1997年精选辑《Ten Rapid》是1995 -- 1997年大批单曲的合集，可整个音乐的音色和概念上感觉还是有一贯性，象是同时期的作品。如其他后摇滚乐队一样，Mogwai做得非常精细，变幻莫测的音色和反复的乐段，也象其他乐队一样充满睿智。他们找来了Mercury Rev的成员及监制Dave Fridman(Dave以往较叫好的作品包括为Flaming Lips制作的唱片)，泡制了1999年《Come on Die Young》，“年轻人你快点死吧”——每个人的内心都是有魔鬼的，权势、容貌、名利、荣辱上太多太多的杂念让心魔在无止的滋长，它们合力抹杀了爱，以龌龊为乐，退化到像动物一样撕杀。“Come on Die Young”，要不到后来都会变成了“Mogwai”。谁都想活的好点——“在三十岁的时候人们都希望有条捷径可以走”，“Mogwai Fear Satan”(魔鬼面对馓旦)就是Mogwai对人生的一次嘲讽。
而Mogwai的感性一面也是纯净、真切的，欲说还休的“Cody”的余味绕梁三尺，“如果我试图让你停下脚步，你是否也会想让我停留，古老的歌一直萦绕，直到最后的时刻，悲伤的歌让我回忆起儿时的旧友，如果这就是命运，我想我只能离开……”
爱是一个高温的主题(Mogwai好些起伏颇大的段落很适合给《37度2》中贝蒂那段失控的街头奔跑做配乐)，有时候她的冰冷比热更令人嗜好，我们经常忍不住像怀疑生命一样对它，如果说生命无常，爱情何尝又不是更脆弱的呢？“End”是无声的所在，比Joy Division“The Eternal”还可怕的青春衰曲，它可能有三个以上的版本？写此曲的时候Mogwai们平均年龄不到22岁，22岁——大部份这个年龄的人还在街上用着父母的钱，回家在卧室里苦恼，算计着爱情和明天，而他们给了未完青春最好的沉思。
2001年《Rock Action》好像评论有些低落，但却是《Young Team》后最给人印象深刻的作品。名为“Rock Action”(摇滚行动)，这又是具有讽刺意味的名头。《Rock Action》结合了富于棱角的扭曲噪音，具有推动力的鼓点，Tortoise般的电子构架，尤以长达九分钟的史诗般作品“2 Rights Make One Wrong”为佳，以铜制乐器，弦乐，Banjo，行云流水般的吉他，时隐时没的人声编制成一层层意犹未尽的音墙，它让我们的耳朵良久的幸福着……
Mogwai得到了不单是英国及欧洲后来也有美国评论界太多的赞美，在独立音乐同仁当中也得到了许多的尊敬。他们每每赶走了陈腐的气息，建立了自己的音乐美学体系，对所有的赞美都当之无愧。后来甚至也深情款款的翻唱了Guns N' Roses的“Don'T Cry”，在其主页上就有这首曾经博得不少少女之心的歌，不过你听了之后就明白这仍然是Mogwai一以惯之的作风，他们一直在试着用最好的方式来表达自我，并让艺术的血液得以畅通。
“对于我们的东西，这世界还没做好准备，” Suart Braithwaite却一锤定音的说过，是的，他们还年轻着，Mogwai如今的平均年龄不超过26岁，大胡子Dominic Aitchison今年可能26了，Stuart Leslie Braithwaite更是1976年5月10日生，在后摇滚的阵营里他们还没到“向后看”的时候，他们享受着音乐，甩掉“陈年往事”的累赘，把生命中多余的包袱远远甩在了脑后……
每一个夜晚都是心衰者的逃离，生命无可把持，每个地方都有这么多的陈词缆调，如果这就是命运，我想我只能离开。让我们一起跑，跑过城市，跑过山谷和平原，在风中跑，跑过了无尽的年岁，跑过了绝望也跑过了温暖，让身后的东西统统腐烂吧……

关于外太空，关于我们生活的地球之外的世界，始终是人类执迷于去发现和探索的领域。在人类的历史中，我们如痴人般不断思考着我们是谁，到底从哪里来又要到哪里去的这个人类哲学第一命题。那对于整个宇宙的畅想更是一刻都没有停止过。所以当刚开始接触到《挑战吧！太空》这个节目的主曲创作的时候，我很兴奋但同时也感到有些无从下手。于是乐队的每个人都分头去准备了一些自己根据这一命题而创作的动机和想法。当我们把这些素材汇集在一起的时候，我的聆听感觉是这些素材更多的都是指向了关于摆脱束缚和突破现有极限的情绪和话题。所以乐队据此找到了一个切入点。我们将整个的主曲做成了一个两段式的结构，第一段对我来说更像是描绘了一幅想象中的飘渺未知的外太空景象，它既荒凉也优美。第二段更像是在一片荒凉之中重新一点一滴的构建和向外突破。在配器上，我们加入了一个小编制的弦乐团和合唱团，试图放大一种不同人把力量汇聚在一起共同发力的状态，所以最后的混音制作，我们也是把它交给了远在瑞典的制作人Kristian, 他同样对这一命题的音乐非常感兴趣，所以在最终的混音中他也加入了他的想法，并配合着合唱团加入了他标志性的高音吟唱。当最终的母带在瑞典由母带师Magnus完成并通过因特网传给我再次聆听的时候，我非常感动，不同于之前所做的任何配乐，它汇集了那么多人的想法和劳动，这就像今天我们的宇航员能离开地球，迈出一下步进入外太空一样，背后是无数人工作研究和探索的结果。
谢玉岗于大连
2018年10月10日
发行：Space Circle
曲/编曲：惘闻乐队
吉他手：谢玉岗/耿鑫
贝斯手：徐增铮
号手：黄凯
键盘手：张岩峰
鼓手：周连江
混音制作：Kristian Karlsson
母带：Magnus
录音：王亚楠
合音：男高音：刘斌；男中音：徐伟 ；女高音：张健男；女中音：鄢红
弦乐组: 小提琴：程冠又/PALAMARCHUK VERONIKA；中提琴：牛雪莹；大提琴：苗雨壮
行进军鼓：王琦
合成器：曲睿宁
封面手绘：好好姑娘小可

“第一次是先有了专辑名字才开始的歌曲创作，然而这也没有帮我们确定内容的框架和边界，大家一如既往的天马行空起来。唯一不同的是在《十万个为什么》创作的两年里，我不像以往那样在意专辑的时间计划和工作的节奏，开始喜欢上了这个过程本身。结果就是更多的时间在不断的试来试去，大部分时间里歌曲本身并没有太多进展，但这帮我解开了很多的“为什么”。就好似“十万个为什么”本来的源头 “One million Hows, two million Wheres，and seven million Whys!”总是有那么多需要弄明白的事情，也只有浸入在这个过程里才能逐渐理清自己的思路吧。
我们一直喜欢做「专辑」而不是「单曲」，因为这需要一段相对长的过程，正是这一相对长的过程赋予了专辑「时间」的烙印。一首歌并不能记录某个阶段相对完整的思考，但一张专辑可以。而对于这张专辑里每一首歌，讲述的又是各自独立的故事，它可以是关于无数的“？”，也可以是关于遥远处依旧需要去探寻的光亮。”
2020 年 9 月 22 日 谢玉岗

The long waited fourth studio album from the moody and intense Texas instrumental band Explosions In The Sky. Known for bringing an emotional heft and sense of hope to a usually placid genre, Explosions In The Sky have experienced the kind of meteoric rise in popularity that flies in the face of music industry convention. Their songs run well past a length suitable for radio play or commercial music videos; they avoid performing in LiveNation/Clear Channel venues; they didn't jump to a major label; and they don't sing. They're also the very rare band that fans of Sigur Ros, Sufjan Stevens and My Chemical Romance can all agree on. EITS are not just an anomaly, they're a gateway. Recorded by John Congleton (The Roots, The Mountain Goats) at Pachyderm Studios in rural Minnesota, the album is a massive leap forward, showcasing a broader instrumental range and their most focused, efficient songwriting. Bella Union. 2007.

Fat Cat are proud to announce their release by recent signings (2002) from Iceland, Mum. Highly-anticipated second album from this Icelandic 4-piece. Beautifully meshing some dense but intricate programming with gorgeous vocal and instrumental melodies, richly textured, hypnotic and unashamedly sumptuous.

《Golevka》是 The Evpatoria Report 的第一张正式专辑，发行于2005年。“Golevka 格勒夫卡”是一颗小行星的名字，而“Evpatoria 艾弗帕托利亚”就是发现这颗小行星的乌克兰天文台。
一切都在混沌未知中铺展开来。该来的会来，该走的会迅速离开。吉他的声音缓慢而充满质疑，却不能亮开嗓子问你一句。混淆了时空的无线电对白，所有的情节转过头去立刻变得模糊不清。纠结迷离，就要错失最初的意义，清晰的鼓点却要引领你去一个明白无误的所在。

God is An Astronaut的配器虽然遵循英式摇滚的传统，但还是充满了古老冲动与激情。God is Astronaut这支柏林的乐队是2002年由两兄弟Niels 和Torsten还有他们的朋友Lloyd三人行而成的。他们的音乐清澈而具有质感，旋律优美却多愁善感，并且运用大量美妙的电子声效。

This is Explosion In The Sky's 2nd album, and one of the most critically acclaimed records of 2004 and a massive word-of-mouth success story, going on to sell 20,000 copies in the UK alone. Features 5 tracks. Bella Union. 2005.

Trapped in a cavern, it’s pitch black and the air is getting harder and harder to breathe. Disoriented, hands follow the walls to find what could be the ceiling, fingers digging into the rock to find something– anything– loose to help point toward a direction out. Suddenly, a rock frees itself and after clearing away some dirt, a pin of blinding light shines through the enveloping darkness. Clearing away soil and rock with more and more vigor, hope and salvation is just a short way from here.
This is PG.LOST’s Oscillate– the band’s latest LP packed to the gills with pure drama and catharsis. Their fifth overall and first effort since 2016’s much lauded Versus, Oscillate leans on an instrumental approach and while their keen understanding of tension/release may warrant comparison to the likes of MONO, Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, PG.LOST is unafraid to move into exciting new directions. With influences that range from the emotional heft of Big Thief to the inventive spirit of krautrock to the brutality of Neurosis to the dark experimentalism of COIL, these heavier elements intertwine and open up into wide-eyed expansiveness of Fennesz or Tim Hecker, revealing a beauty shimmering underneath and a range of depth rarely found in today’s over-compressed and spit-shined version of “modern music.”
In making the new LP, PG.LOST opted to keep it simple and follow their gut. “On the previous records we have always tried to make it very basic and clean when it comes to production, not too many overdubs or add-ons,” reveals bassist Kristian Karlsson. “This time was more about not thinking about that at all. We don’t try to over analyse our records– it always starts with one or two songs and they often set the mood of the rest of the writing process.I think this album has more layers to it– you hear new things every time you listen. We’re really looking forward to hearing what the listeners think.”
Kicking off with a blossoming dark ambient passage on the title track, an ascendant guitar/synth part builds tension until final release is achieved with a massive chorus, waves of eye-opening guitars and elephantine tribal drums. It’s emblematic of the album as a whole– massive in scope and even larger in sound, Oscillate is the true definition of its title with incredibly tense swells to the point of collapse leading to a slow but pensive disintegration. And again. And again. Oscillate is not just instrumental music, it’s cinematic– it’s high drama, executed in IMAX with a pristine soundtrack blasting at 120db.
Due in November via Pelagic Records, the LP was recorded by the band in their own studio, and mixed/mastered by Magnus Lindberg from Cult of Luna. In creating the LP, the only hurdle seemingly was an internal one and making efficient use of individual scheduling. “When we formed the band we spent almost every night in the rehearsal space,” recalls Karlsson. “Nowadays we only rehearse for tours or when we plan to have writing sessions for example upcoming records. It is not as spontaneous as it used to be, but I think it forces us to really make the best out of it when we do see each other.”
Founded in 2004 in Norrköping, Sweden, PG.LOST is Mattias Bhatt, Martin Hjertstedt (ex- Ghost), Gustav Almberg (The Great Discord) and Kristian Karlsson (Cult of Luna). Formed in pursuit of a singular love of post-rock, ambient and shoegaze with a bent towards post- metal, the band released their self-titled and the Yes, I Am EPs in 2006 and 2007. From there PG.LOST dropped their 2008 LP It’s Not Me, It’s You! quickly followed by 2009’s In Never Out, Key, the Wang Wen split LP and Versus followed in 2012, 2013 and 2016 respectively.
Sovereign in execution and mammoth in scope, Oscillate is ten tracks of pure dramatic bombast and a massive step forward for the decades-old band. The four years away have been worth it.

Most music lovers first heard of Amiina due to their association with another Icelandic band called Sigur Ros. The girls started working with Sigur Ros in the mid 90's, resulting in their first shows with the band in 1999. The rest, of course, is history, as Amiina became the string players for all of Sigur Ros' subsequent tours and records.

Like the sound of cooing, aspects of Amiina's music flicker quietly and float softly, content and beautiful. Kurr is full of dazzling moments of that caliber, a wholly original work that is delicate, intricate and dream-like. Their music is genuinely so special, ineffably charming and infused with a sense of cosmic magic. It's certainly wielded that power on us.

Every Country's Sun takes two decades of Mogwai's signature, contrasting sounds – towering intensity, pastoral introspection, synth-rock minimalism, DNA-detonating volume – and distills it, beautifully, into 56 concise minutes of gracious elegance, hymnal trance-rock, and transcendental euphoria. Produced by psych-rock luminary Dave Fridmann, it's a structural soundscape built from stark foundations up; from a gentle, twinkling, synth-rock spectre to a solid, blown-out, skyward-thrusting obelisk. There's percussive, dream-state electronics (“Coolverine”), church organs as chariots of existential fire (“Brain Sweeties”), tremulous, foreboding bleeping – possibly from a dying android (“aka 47”). Their most transportive album yet, it also hosts their most fully realized art-pop sing-along of their storied history, “Party In The Dark,” a head-spinning disco-dream double-helix echoing New Order and The Flaming Lips, featuring Braithwaite's seldom-heard melodic vocals declaring he's “directionless and innocent, searching for another piece of mind”. This is music as a keep-out chrysalis, protective audio armor through exalting organs and portentous, dissonant guitar fuzz warping at the edges, bending the world inside-out into a reality in which you'd much rather live. The last three songs ascend into explosive exorcism, closing with the colossal “Every Country's Sun,” its searching intensity whooshing towards infinity in a dazzling cosmic crescendo.

this, this long-playing record, a thing we made in the midst of communal mess, raising dogs and children. eyes up and filled with dreadful joy – we aimed for wrong notes that explode, a quiet muttering amplified heavenward. we recorded it all in a burning motorboat.
(context as follows:)
1. UNDOING A LUCIFERIAN TOWERS – look at that fucking skyline! big lazy money writ in dull marble obelisks! imagine all those buildings much later on, hollowed out and stripped bare of wires and glass, listen- the wind is whistling through all 3,000 of its burning window-holes!
2. BOSSES HANG – labor, alienated from the wealth it creates, so that holy cow, most of us live precariously! kicking at it, but barely hanging on! also – the proud illuminations of our shortened lives! also – more of us than them! also – what we need now is shovels, wells, and barricades!
3. FAM / FAMINE – how they kill us = absentee landlord, burning high-rise. the loud panics of child-policemen and their exploding trigger-hands. with the dull edge of an arbitrary meritocracy. neglect, cancer maps, drone strike, famine. the forest is burning and... more
releases September 22, 2017
PERSONNEL
Aidan Girt: Drums
David Bryant: Electric guitar, MG-One
Efrim Manuel Menuck: Electric guitar, organ, OP-1
Karl Lemieux: 16mm film projections
Mauro Pezzente: Electric bass
Michael Moya: Electric guitar
Sophie Trudeau: Violins, organ
Thierry Amar: Contrebasse, electric bass
Timothy Herzog: Drums
GUESTS ON TRACK ONE
Bonnie Kane (saxophone, flute, electronics)
Craig Pederson (trumpet)
Recorded by Greg Norman at Hotel 2 Tango and The Pines.
Mixed by Greg Norman and GYBE at Hotel 2 Tango.
Masted by Harris Newman at Greymarket.

God is An Astronaut的配器虽然遵循英式摇滚的传统，但还是充满了古老冲动与激情。God is Astronaut这支柏林的乐队是2002年由两兄弟Niels 和Torsten还有他们的朋友Lloyd三人行而成的。他们的音乐清澈而具有质感，旋律优美却多愁善感，并且运用大量美妙的电子声效。2002年成立，2003年3月在他们自己成立的厂牌Revive Records发表了第一张专辑《The End of the Beginning》。2005.2第二张专辑《All is Violent，All is Bright》依然在Revive Records下发表。God is An Astronaut在采访中形容他们的音乐是“Electronic，chill out synthisised rock ”，这是由于他们受主流摇滚的影响同时又喜欢The Chemical Brothers（着名Synth pop乐队），而将两者合而为一的产物。
第一次听这张《All is Violent，All is Bright》已经让我爱不释手，在我听过的音乐中特别是postrock这类型中，God is Astronaut创作出来的声音竟然是如此独特。
如湖水般清澈，如空气般清新。虽然专辑名字中有Violent，但是猛烈程度却不如Mogwai，而因为有Bright，明亮欢快，尤胜Sigur Ros，旋律悦耳程度简直让我惊喜。第三首Forever Lost中清脆的钢琴配上空灵的吉他，我完全沉浸在那种境界，永远迷失在那优美的旋律中。
God is an astronaut是一支来自爱尔兰首都都柏林的后摇团体，风格是吉他为主的器乐后摇。《Fragile》一段轻柔的吉他开篇，仿佛来自遥远的外太空一样空灵飘渺，但要是你认为接下来是更加延长的继续下去的话就错了，歌曲进行到一半的时候，吉他开始更有节奏的轰鸣，变的更加饱满更有力量。《All Is Violent All Is Bright》带我们进入另一个魔幻的世界，行至3分钟的时候，吉他构建的空间氛围感越来越强烈，形成一种压迫感，却在你变的狂躁不安之前噶然而止。奇怪的是，我们没有感到不适，反而觉得很爽。第三首有一个很好听的名字《Forever Lost》,不同于其他歌曲的是，用钢琴弹奏取代了吉他而作为引子，显得特别乾净。整张唱片的旋律都漂亮的很，很容易被记住，但每首歌呈现给我们的世界是不同的。when everything dies！你会联想到什么？末世的荒凉，还是万物待生的希望？专辑的最后一首歌《When Everything Dies》却奇妙的将两种感觉带到你面前。
如果你在午夜十分因为某种原因而无法入睡，那么这张唱片绝对是带你进入梦幻旅行最好选择。

The conflict and correlation between dark and light is a universal theme with a historically rich history. Musically, perhaps no band in the 21st Century has mined that relationship more consistently or effectively than Japan’s MONO.
Across 10 albums in 20 years, MONO have convincingly reflected the quietest and most chaotic parts of life through their music. Their ever-expanding instrumental palette – which began in earnest in 1999 with the traditional guitar-bass-drums rock band setup – has evolved to include as many as 30 orchestral instruments. Now, on Nowhere Now Here, the band add electronics to their repertoire – perhaps inspired by guitarist/composer Takaakira ‘Taka’ Goto’s recent collaboration with John McEntire, the beguiling Behind the Shadow Drops. Nowhere Now Here also sees MONO’s first-ever lineup change, adding new drummer Dahm Majuri Cipolla (The Phantom Family Halo) to the core trio of Goto, Tamaki, and Yoda. Tamaki also makes her vocal debut here, singing into the shadows of vintage Nico on the poetically hazy “Breathe.”
The unlikely career of MONO has taken them to virtually every corner of the planet, several times over. Those corners have all left indelible marks on their music, as it drills deeper towards the sound of feeling not quite human and all too human – often at the same time.

Ever since forming 16 years ago, Irish trio God Is An Astronaut has reigned as one of the premier instrumental groups. With its fusion of intense rock instrumentation, ethereal and emotional soundscapes, awe-inspiring dynamics and transfixing melodies.
Each of their prior releases has offered a breath taking sonic journey, and their ninth emotive opus, Epitaph, is a record that both sees a progression in their sound while still remaining true to their ethos that helped define the band. The cover artwork was painted by French artist Fursy Teyssier and fits the melancholic mood beautifully. Joined by long-time drummer Lloyd Hanney, contributions also come from Xenon Field on sound design and former member Jamie Dean on keys.
The opening title track ‘Epitaph’ sets the album`s mood. There is pain and loss at work here, but not pain and loss that are given in to. Sparse piano motifs face energetic rhythms, shimmering guitar coatings, and eruptions of dense fury breathe life into a journey of melancholic longing: there is the release experienced when a troubled existence ends in ‘Mortal Coil‘ followed by the sombre foreshadowing that is ‘Winter Dusk/Awakening‘.
The album changes direction slightly with ‘Seánce Room’ and the music on this highway is taking you someplace meaningful and special – someplace where near and far blur and stars weep over tragedies.
‘Komorebi’ is a word from Japanese. Think of the interplay between light and leaves when sunlight shines through trees.The song has a melancholic longing or nostalgia for a person, place or thing that is far away from you or about to slip away.
‘Medea’ references Greek mythology, and the enchantress who married Jason, leader of the Argonauts, only to be later guilty of filicide, a crime so against the natural order of things that you can imagine the stars in the sky weeping. It is not easy to confront such things, but this record and this band don’t shirk the challenge.
Finally, the beautiful and hypnotic piece of music that is the album-closing ‘Oisín’ is in memory of Torsten and Niels' 7-year-old cousin who was tragically taken from this world. It distils into four minutes all the pain, sadness and longing felt by many over a much-longer timeframe. A fitting end to an album that will move you deeply and call out to you to be revisited many times.

兩年前的《歲月鴻溝》，惘聞用宏大的氛圍之聲，描繪出在他們眼中，在這個時代我們都將必然捲入的巨大黑洞。出人意料的是，兩年後他們並沒有延續前作，執迷於綿長悲壯的敘事和彌漫的寬廣氛圍，而是突然轉過身，把注意力從時代景觀移回到了他們的生活場景中，帶來了一張由八首相對精短的作品構成的新專輯《看不見的城市》。
作為一支存在近20年的“老樂隊”，每張唱片的變化或者演化並不稀奇，而且這也一直在惘聞的身上發生，但這一次，我們聽到的，絕對是惘聞迄今為止最動聽、最溫暖的一張唱片，他們一頭紮進了旋律的懷抱，將他們對自己所生活的城市最直接的情感表露無疑。遠赴冰島錄音，也讓這張新唱片的聲音變得更加純淨悠遠。在《看不見的城市》裡，我們感到一陣陣的關切，也聽到了惘聞下意識的，在變成這個城市一絲有溫度的能量。
關於專輯創作和錄音的自述
“2016年初，當惘聞完成了《歲月鴻溝》最後一天的錄製，我們在大雪封門的錄音室裡重播錄音檔時，我想，下次一定要做一張暖色調的唱片。至於怎樣進入暖色，我們還完全不知道。
或許因為大連的春天總是來的很遲，那之後做出來的東西，我們都沒感覺到溫度變化。第一輪的巡演回來，才到了大連最舒適的季節。看來，我們就是始終被周圍環境影響的一幫人。
後續的創作逐漸進入軌道，在排練室錄完了一個粗糙的Demo後，我們就開始尋思著去哪裡錄製這張唱片。和惘聞每張專輯之後都會換一個新的排練室不太一樣（因為每次都是在不得已的情況下），每張新唱片，我們都希望在一個新的錄音環境下進行，覺得這樣或許會帶給我們一些不同的情緒和感受，另外，在一個新的錄音室裡，我們每個人總能學到一些新的技能。
一年前，我們的調音師小龍和經紀人孫怡去冰島旅行，拜訪了那個由游泳池改建的很出名的錄音棚Sundlaugin，之後樂隊就收到了他們發來的錄音棚環境和設備的照片資料。那時我們剛訂完了歐洲巡演，所以決定乾脆在巡演之前，去冰島錄製這張新唱片。
新唱片的製作人，是我們上一張專輯合作過的Wouter和Lode兄弟。通過《歲月鴻溝》在一起十多天的工作，現在我們對彼此的工作方式有了更多的理解，但更重要的是，我們非常信任對方。在抵達冰島之前，我們在郵件中聊了很多錄製這張唱片的想法，希望每個人能把對冰島以及這個錄音棚的主觀感受都帶入到錄音和棚裡的再創作之中。
得益於大家充分的準備和計畫，整個錄音非常順利。我們在錄音棚裡把那些在市面上很難找到的老樂器和設備，挨個試了一個遍。大家玩的興奮的同時，也學到了很多東西，所以即使每天都要工作12個小時以上，也不覺得疲憊。這樣的氣氛下，就算經過了冰島的冬日極夜，最終的錄音也如我們最初所願，是一張溫暖的作品集。”
關於唱片的名字
『過去兩年，我認識的不少年輕人，都離開了大連這座城市，去更有活力的地方生活和工作。而依然佇立的這座城市越來越沉默，也越來越模糊。有一天我突然想起了卡爾維諾的那本，我始終沒有讀完的書，翻開它的前幾章，我看到了自己曾經用鉛筆畫下的字句：「每個城市都從她面對的荒漠獲得自己的形狀；於是趕駱駝的人和水手所看到的，就是這樣處在沙的荒漠與水的荒漠之間的苔斯皮納。」於是就有了這張唱片的名字：《看不見的城市》。然而這本書我依然沒有讀完。』
-謝玉崗
2018年6月26日