About

2LP pressed on standard black vinyl

Housed in gatefold sleeve

Includes a card with download code

Tracks are blended into a continuous mix

—

Thirteen years after their landmark debut, Italian duo Voices From The Lake (Donato Dozzy & Neel) return with their much-anticipated second album, ‘II’ (two) on their own Spazio Disponibile.The record marks a new chapter in one of electronic music’s most revered projects.

Born from a friendship and a singular musical vision, Voices From The Lake first emerged as a one-off live performance in the Japanese Alps, later distilled into their self-titled 2012 album. That record has since become a touchstone in ambient techno, reshaping the global landscape of hypnotic and atmospheric electronic music. In the years since, the duo have performed worldwide, released a handful of EPs, worked on installations, and founded record labels, all while continuing to refine the project’s unique identity. Yet the core of Voices From The Lake has always been its deep, aqueous approach to sound, a sensibility that returns in full force on II.

“The project was never meant to become what it did,” the duo reflect. “At one point, we even paused it. Only to later embrace it in all its forms. II is both a continuation and a reinvention.” True to that spirit, Voices From The Lake have explored extremes in recent years, from high-tempo live sets to seated listening concerts, while remaining anchored in the meditative pulse of ambient techno. II extends this lineage, carrying forward the immersive sound design and boundary-pushing vision that has defined their work from the beginning. — (via Label)

—

From the moment the low end rumbles to life on opener “Eos,” we’re back in glorious terra cognita. The duo’s bass tone alone is a thing of beauty, like a lightweight alloy that’s been hollowed out: You can feel the sub in your chest, but it’s never heavy, and the higher frequencies drive the mood and melody as much as the synth leads do. Bass is the duo’s secret weapon, the sound that makes their music both propulsive and curiously still, laying down an earthy foundation that feels more organic than synthetic.

Though there’s a naturalistic bent to the sounds on II—the percussion knocks like mischievous woodpeckers on the spacey, tranced-out “Montenero,” and there’s a suggestion of birdsong in “Mono No Koto”—this is hardly tree-hugging new-age music. The new record is more rooted in deep, dark, dubby dance music, including a bassline on “Montero” that hits like the foreboding strains of amapiano currently played out by DJs like Mark Ernestus. Or the rippling darkwave synths on “Blue Noa,” which has a muscular runner’s build, hard and lithe: Think Boy Harsher covering Nitzer Ebb for a late-’90s car commercial. With II, the musicians find new things to do with their chiffon basslines and pitter-patter drums, gently expanding the Voices From the Lake remit without venturing too far out of their enchanted forest. — (via Pitchfork)

—

II is not an album that pushes itself forward. It exists instead like a still body of water alongside the club circuit: calm on the surface, yet in constant, delicate motion beneath. Its guiding idea is immersion.

Musically, the second album by Donato Dozzy and Neel as Voices From The Lake unfolds in shimmering layers. Soft synth surfaces drift into one another like banks of fog. Beneath them pulse sequences that never quite want to become beats. Rhythm appears more as a memory of movement – muted, circular, almost disembodied. Particularly distinctive is the way time is handled: tracks stretch out without losing tension, because minimal shifts within the sound structure generate a subtle sense of dramaturgy. A filter opens almost imperceptibly, a reverb tail dissolves into infinity, a tonal core begins to shimmer.

II resists fast consumption and urgency. Where electronic music often aims for maximum impact, this album is permeated by an aesthetic of restraint. It serves as a reminder that depth is not created through volume, but through patience and sensitivity – and that techno, beyond the dancefloor, can be a contemplative experience. — (via HHV Mag)

↓
Label: Spazio Disponibile
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Mixed
Released: 2025
Genre: Electronic
Style: Ambient, Deep Techno

File under: House / Electro / Techno
⦿