This summary is part of a series, posting between 30th December 2025 and 3rd January 2026
Here are some picks with an ambient vibe, or thereabouts. Light up a doobie, set fire to your beanbag, and let the fumes send you to a blissful nirvana. (Don't actually do that. It's dangerous.)
Cosey Fanni Tutti – 2t2 (Conspiracy International)
There's something super-epic about Cosey Fanni Tutti's third solo album. The ritualistic choir in the opening track, those pulsing drones moving everything forward, the distended mourning of Stolen Time. When things slip into organic ambience in the second half, you can still feel the thrum of the drones. A big album with big music even when it's bring small.
Jeremy Hyman – Low Air (JH Recordings)
A drummer leapfrogs his drum kit for a debut solo album. Although it's not as drummy as you'd expect. This occasional Animal Collective collaborator has dialled down his, er, dials. The rhythms ripple rather than pulse, and sparkling washes of rich ambience provide the energy. There's a track called Clear Chords, which sums things up nicely.
Mark Van Hoen – The Eternal Present (Dell'Orso Records)
Locust was one of the first electronic music acts I saw live, and I was not ready for it. It hurt my brain (I was naïve and very wrong). This latest work from a post-Locust Van Hoen, taken from many years of archive recordings, meanders from swelling ambience to buzzy four-to-the-floor techno. There's even a Slowdive cover. And a detuned ambient track called Xmas (take THAT, Kylie).
Purelink: Faith (Peak Oil)
Note to be confused with Addicted to Bass writers Puretone. In fact, this is diametrically different. I shouldn't have mentioned it. Sorry. Faith is a big old gaseous ball of cosy ambience, with Basic Channel instincts, bursting with sunshine and beauty. Even cameo vocalist Loraine James sounds chilled. Lovely beyond all loveliness. Not to be confused with PureGyms.
Shed – Towards East (The Final Experiment)
Here comes album full of ambience, but this one is very different. Yes, there's lilting on Shed's sixth album. The lilting is locked in, don't you worry. There are also junglist loops that scribble into your brain, the obligatory dub techno scowls, and chords so portentous, you'll be looking up "portentous" in a dictionary.
Voice Actor & Squu – Lust (1) (Stroom)
Voice Actor's debut album Sent From My Telephone was 108 tracks long. Their collaboration with dubby Welsh ambienteer Squu is a sensible length, and best of all is it's dubby and rhythmic. Clever use of wonky vocals add so much here, and even spooked me out on the haunting nekk. The darkness is really quite beautiful, putting the "aaaaah" into ASMR.
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