Check Out Immersive New Ambient Shoegaze From Folian Exclusively Here

On his new album Blue Mirror, Portland-area boundary pushing project Folian’s mastermind David Fylstra floats through restrained but powerful guitar melodies that feel poised to snake right into listeners’ psyches. The listening experience feels like an infusion of the feel of a gentle acceptance of creeping nature. Get an exclusive first listen below of the album’s song “No Wake.”

The song ends up just about seven minutes long, but the entirety feels packed with subtly emotionally upending power. The track never gets very loud at all, but the slightly muted cacophony of sound that Fylstra eventually builds to alongside his emotionally pained-sounding vocals really delivers the immersive, memorable experience.

When the song ends with gently winding down apparent guitar melody and Fylstra singing, “I had so much love to give. We had such little life to live,” the listener feels stopped in their tracks to ponder the deeply personal-feeling take on decay.

Across the album as a whole, Fylstra employs instrumentation including guitars, synths, field recordings, and more, and these components gently ebb and flow like the surges and retractions of waves along a shore. While the music never gets overly loud, the music, most definitely including this song, feels incredibly thick and rich, like post-metal with the upending emotions majorly turned up.

Fylstra explained his thinking behind this song:

“Weighed down by the stagnation of living day-to-day in an emotionally foggy state is where this song came from. I wondered why things change so quickly, and what I could’ve done differently, and so-on, almost drowning myself in sorrow. It’s important to remember who you are, who you know yourself to be, and not lose sight of that. You can become better, but you can’t go back again.”

Photo via Dylan Garrett Smith

Listen below! The album releases in full on January 31 via Fylstra’s own Anima Recordings, with both vinyl and cassette copies available. Pre-order the album at this link.

Folian is on Tour now w/ Shifting Harbor, with stops including:

1/16 @ Coaxial – Los Angeles, CA*
1/17 @ The Quarry – Bisbee, AZ
1/19 @ Crazy Rhythms – San Antonio, TX
1/20 @ The Volstead – Austin, TX*
1/21 @ The NASA – Corpus Christi, TX
1/22 @ Neon Rose – El Paso, TX
1/24 @ Rec Center – Los Angeles, CA
1/25 @ Golden Bull – Oakland, CA*
1/25 @ Pro Arts – Oakland, CA
1/31 @ Boathouse – Portland, OR
2/1 @ Charlie’s Chophouse – Astoria, OR
2/2 @ Gallery 1412 – Seattle, WA

(*Performing together as Canadensis)