Aquamarine is the debut album by Souns, an ambient project by Vancouver-based producer and dj Michael Red. With Souns, Red explores themes that are reflective of the natural world, the unseen world, outer space, and transcendence. Performances are largely intuitive and improvised, sometimes guided. The audio is an immersive world of deep sonic output, lucid introspection, and seemingly endless layers of sound. Typically there are no “drums” in Souns material, though there might be a detectable pulse. As heard on the first album track “Untouched,” Aquamarine leaves an unmistakable mark on the listener, reverberating in the mind long after listening. The new album is now out via Subtempo Records.

“I’ve always made a wide variety of music. I started Souns simply to start to differentiate between dancefloor material and sit down stuff, which felt very right and natural once I had committed,” Red explains. “It also help me focus intentions a little bit better, and kind of justified some of my more abstract material too. Initially the difference was murky in areas when I started using the Souns name, but over the years the differences became clearer. One test is if I can see the work on the dancefloor, however abstract that dancefloor may be – then it’s not Souns. If i can see the music being appropriate for a contemplative seated concert – it’s likely Souns.”

Subtempo Records is an independent record label, founded in December 2015 by Rocco Tyndale to provide a platform for new talent and to collaborate with established artists to bring high quality music and visual art to the public. Focusing on artists with unique visions, the Subtempo sound is left-field leaning, contemporary classical and electronic. There is a strong focus on visual art, pairing musicians with visual artists, architects and videographers, and functioning as a platform for showcasing multimedia projects. They are a home for collector’s items, unique pieces and limited number reproductions.

Michael Red on the album:

“I feel like this album reveals expressions of my truest (pisces) self. “Aquamarine” is intimate, stripped down deeper explorations, built in mostly meditative and etheric states, mostly between the hours of midnight and 6am. And despite being created in the quiet of night, i do feel there is a fair amount of lightness and sun woven through out .. that is my hope at least.”