Ecstatic Lightsongs by Aarktica

Genres: Art Rock, Post-rock, Darkwave, Shoegaze, Ambient
RIYL: Talk Talk, Echo & The Bunnymen, Hood, Durutti Column

Aarktica's 10th studio album merges transcendent atmospheres with darkly danceable rhythms, expansive analog synths and layers of modulated, tape-echo guitars. The result is a mesmerizing and immersive sound that pays homage to classic darkwave and art-rock, with a hypnotic ambience and a hopeful spirit one can only define as ecstatic.

“Ecstatic Lightsongs is a sonic love letter to my earliest influences,” explains Jon DeRosa, who has recorded as Aarktica since 1999.

A sense of wistful nostalgia is palpable throughout Ecstatic Lightsongs, which covers a vast sonic spectrum, even for an artist who has woven a seamless tapestry through myriad genre explorations over the course of his three-decade career. The hallmark of Aarktica's ambient melancholia remains, but here it’s built around a core of rhythmic elements and the addition of synthesizers, both of which have been largely eschewed on the artist's releases over the last decade.

“I envisioned this album to be a fusion of rhythm and ambience, but not in an electronic way,” shares DeRosa. “I thought a lot about the way rhythm is used on albums like Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock, where the drums hold a beautiful space that allows the musical elements to unfold freely, spaciously, and minimally at times. This blueprint afforded me an opportunity I’ve never really had before to explore melody and ambience in new ways.”

Also notable is the addition of DeRosa's haunting baritone voice on 7 of 9 songs, a contrast to his last album Paeans (Projekt Records, 2023), which was an instrumental affair.

DeRosa's lyrics explore nostalgia, loss, alienation and the desire for human and spiritual connection, with an optimism and hopefulness that leaves the door ajar for the light to get in. "Many of these songs focus on the smallest elements of memory," says DeRosa. "How we remember the moonlight looking on someone's face. A passing conversation about cloud formations over coffee. I’m fascinated at how some seemingly trivial experiences stay with us forever and become significant pieces in our story.”

These themes are immediately apparent from the album opener "Trick of the Light," with its chiming guitar melodies against syncopated rhythms and soaring synths, and the introduction of Britt Warner, whose ethereal vocals accompany DeRosa on three tracks. Warner takes the lead on “Destination Paradise,” which explores the esoteric theme of “cargo cults” waiting to be whisked off to the heavens, juxtaposing a modern longing for salvation, connection and proof of a higher power. All of this splayed atop a spacious arrangement that meshes Beach Boys-esque guitar tones, with choral samples, orchestral strings and a downtempo beat. On the airy, “Cloud Formations,” finger-picked guitars and modular synths create a hypnotic groove, over which Warner engages in conversation with DeRosa, who asks her earnestly “Is this what it’s like to have a friend?”

For the ambient lovers, the cosmic "Ecstatic Light Transmission" delights the aural palette with its granular synth tones against DeRosa's dying-cassette-tape guitar work, as well as "The Bird That Hides Itself," a mournful duet between he and cellist Henrik Meierkord.

The digital version closes with a bonus track, a cover of the Chameleons classic “Second Skin,” arranged in a soaring, orchestral and cinematic fashion.

In addition to Warner and Meierkord, joining DeRosa on this album are Mike Pride (drums), Lewis Pesacov (bass), Charles Newman (piano on “Second Skin”), and Frank Bell (cello on “Second Skin”). The four-time Grammy nominated Pesacov also produced the album (except for tracks “Why Say Anything?” and “Second Skin,” which were produced by Newman).

Just like a meaningful connection is forged when sharing a mixtape of your favorite songs with a dear friend on a long night drive, DeRosa reaches back into his past to retrieve the most meaningful moments of memory — both musical and personal — to share with us on Ecstatic Lightsongs. In doing so, he invites us on this ride into his inner and aural world, one of beauty, melancholy and ecstatic celebration.

Aarktica is the ambient/atmospheric project of Jon DeRosa. Aarktica’s audio explorations span decades and include a wide-range of styles, straddling shoegaze and ambient, electronic and drone, and most recently immersed in deep, meditative sounds for cosmic journeys.