Another resonating success from Los Angeles-based artist Carey Clayton, Idyll unveils a lushly enchanting sound with folktronica, chamber music, and dreamy pop intertwining. Clayton’s previous album, Headless, was amongst our favorite albums of 2024, standing out for its meditative and atmospheric sound. Idyll picks up right where that left, stirring in its memorable soundscapes and melodically ethereal prowess — and this time showcasing a fully instrumental approach, putting enjoyable emphasis on the gorgeous arrangements within.
Traversing from climactic guitar-led pieces like “Automata” to the spacey synth-touched “Cold Light,” Idyll consumes with a production that feels reflective of various inspired landscapes. As such, Clayton describes the album “as an homage to the natural spaces which largely inspired the themes,” — specifically venturing across mountains, desert, and Clayton’s native Altadena, California.
“New Growth” opens the album with a caressing folk subduedness, complemented steadily by twangy guitar touches and glistening synth elements; it makes for an apt kick-off to the album, in showcasing a production that often dazzles in its shifts between dreamy acoustics and layered tonal expansions. “Mirror Meadows” also excels in its quicker guitar frolicking and chamber music sensations — building like an orchestral swell into a riveting second half — while “Ribbon Cutting” blends grandiose piano and trickling acoustics with gripping impact. Idyll is another enveloping album from Carey Clayton.
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“New Growth” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup, as part of the artist’s promotional campaign.
