Viul is an experimental, ambient musician who uses melodies in a way that few others do. But that doesn’t mean that Brooklyn-based Luke Entelis’ project turns the rules of ambient music on their head, or that his music is toe-curling. On »Secret Recess«, his debut album for Belgian label Dauw, the melodies emerge from the layers of sound that Viul builds up using analogue synthesizers, guitars, effects pedals, manipulated tapes and field recordings—as on the opening track »Take Its Coral Hand«. The album also features other structured tracks, like »Canon (First Exhalation)« or »Taurum«, on which looped structures emerge from the mist, their repetitive nature demonstrating an affinity with the music of colleagues such as William Basinski. Viul was inspired to create »Secret Recess« by a trip he made through the national parks in the southwestern United States, a place where the landscape seems endless, the horizon miles away. This is reflected in the music. Viul opens up the sound spaces very wide on »Secret Recess«.
Secret Recess
