Norah Lorway has a new album coming out on Xylem Records, the label she runs from Falmouth in Cornwall. “Like Nothing Before” serves as a preview track. It’s nearly 10 minutes of full-throttle ambient, all the earmark textures — white noise, drone, shimmer, chorus — turned all the way up, in turn exuding a sense of tension and even, somehow, speed. At some point along the way, a core tone deep amid the piece shifts down an octave — perhaps there’s a subtle leap, or perhaps a filter just slowly trims enough of the overtones to give the impression. The effect is quite beautiful, like a sunrise, or a sunset, or something akin but entirely other.
More from Lorway at norahlorway.com and from Xylem at xylemrecords.bandcamp.com.