sunset stories.//mary yalex

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐  

After a widely-acclaimed album drop in the form of Ohra earlier this year, another 2022 album release by Mary Yalex, compliments the German music producers' very consistent showing. With a second ambient album in the space of 12 months, Sunset Stories, demonstrates a side to the ambient genre not altogether expressed thoroughly enough. 

The raw edginess of each malleable song penetrates our peripheral understanding and asks pressing questions about taste. It queries our often prominent lack of prudence when as listeners we patiently take in and process atmospherically-inspired music as a 21st-century generation of consumers.

'Stellar State One' consists of a broad, encompassing, and directionless wave pad. Whilst the 3rd track from the Sunset Stories album is probably the most intriguing. 'Flash' is reminiscent of the instrumentalized mish-mash visited by Laurel Halo's In Situ. The track entitled 'Tonix' is a more upbeat video-game type of electronic experience.

And as with many studio-produced ambient albums, Mary Yalex's latest body of work doesn't as much absorb itself with a specific sub-theme, other than the concept of proverbial sunset identified through song titles, as it does successfully engage the listener's attention away from the standardised impulsivity driven by atypical technical elements of traditional 4x4. These elements are noticeably absent throughout the music on this album, which in my opinion is a very good thing.

Overall - 7/10

1. Stellar State One
2. Late Night Walk - 5/10
3. Flash - 9/10
4. Down By the Sea - 6.5/10
5. Tonix - 8/10
6. Epic Room Two -7/10
7. Stellar State Two -9/10
8. Ocean -8/10
9. Sleepless - 8/10
10. Lovely Morning - 7/10
11. Milky Way - 7/10

Catch 'Flash' and one other selection from the Ohra album on a Special Edition playlist full of minimalist album joints from 2022. Simply search for "Radiant Ambience" on Apple Music's Shared Playlists.