Ekin Fil — Bora Boreas

Ekin Fil, the nom de plume of Istantbul–based Ekin Üzeltüzenc, has been composing threadbare ambient works since at least the early tens, characterised by a heady mixture of field recordings, siren vocals, and reverb–laden piano. The cocktail is not unfamiliar to those who turn to Kranky label artists – Liz Harris, Tim Hecker, Adam Wiltzie, and so on – for their fix. While the elements and their gossamer dressing might be known quantities, there is something absent from Bor Boreas, Ekin Fil‘s latest offering. Not absent as in missing or lacking; absent like a void. The center has dropped out, and no amount of framing will bring it back.

The album‘s production is lush: it washes over like a warm blanket, familiar and calming. Ekin Fil uses her voice sparingly, only to evoke some depth beneath the ghostly dirges of her piano. There is no human anchor, in other words, binding the ephemera to an organic whole. Bora Boreas is ambience unmoored, drifting without orientation or reliable points of contact. Of the nine tracks, “misil” is the longest and most spell-binding of the bunch, and not coincidentally finds itself squarely in the middle of this centrifuge of an album. This is also where the synth pads start to move north, out of the deep and into the astral plane. When the voice re-emerges on “bora bora”, it seems to belong to an entirely different body than the one before.

Fans of the aforementioned artists are likely to feel at home in the Bora Boreas cosmos. Others skeptical of ambient pretenses will get the opportunity to learn how to let go. Very recommended!