The recording of Ceiling Spirits self-titled debut LP spanned two years and three countries finishing with mastering at Abbey Road Studios in early 2018. The full-length delves into classical, minimalism, post rock, electronic and ambient sounds. Ceiling Spirits’ follow up, plans changed suddenly and drastically when the world stopped due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Unable to use musicians to track the string parts Quadracci has composed, Ceiling Spirits has instead leaned more heavily on modular analog synths to bring the first tracks of the upcoming project to life. Today, Quadracci has shared the second single off the album, entitled “UltraQuiet.” The Ambient-tinged track is the perfect thing to get us through these long days.

The story of Ceiling Spirits ironically begins in a basement. For years guitarist Mario Quadracci would steal any moment he could to retreat to his cellar studio and try to coax the sound he was hearing in his head through his amplifiers. It took a while, but slowly, frustratingly slowly, something began to click. Without other musicians to lean on, Quadracci figured out how to create an ensemble of timbres using just guitar, effects, analog synths and unconventional playing techniques. From the beginning his aim was to create a musical force that could be alternately ferocious and elegiac, soaring and sparse, but always decentralized in focus from its source: himself. Adopting the moniker, Ceiling Spirits helped, but it was the screenings of self-produced films at performances that completed the illusion.

The films allowed for an exploration of sound’s ability to define the emotional, spatial and thematic qualities of images. The music and visuals became intricately linked. But that all changed when storied record producer, Gareth Jones, who had seen a video of a Ceiling Spirits performance on YouTube, offered to help turn the music from the live show into an album. Quadracci jumped at the chance to work with Jones. He was also curious to see if his compositions could be made to retain their emotional and thematic content removed from the films they were designed to accompany.