Orkun A.

(This article's English version was produced with AI-assisted translation)

Immersed in hazy soundscapes and mesmerising progressions, the latest work by Turkish artist Orkun Akbal finds its strength in classic ambient strategies: reverbs and arpeggios, micro-sounds and granular synthesis, the electroacoustic technique that breaks sound down into grains. Akbal clearly knows the theory, as shown by a title track that, in just four minutes, avoids the usual drone in favour of an evolution that feels organic and controlled. The search for a less static form of writing is without doubt one of the album’s strengths, especially when compared to the debut “The Age Of Spiral”, where the sonic research leaned more heavily toward a monolithic approach.

Within an ocean of blurred, meditative contours, modulations and filtering begin to surface. Orkun A. makes the art of layering his own, placing multiple sounds in relation to one another until they merge into what feels like a single living organism, a choice that, in some cases, still raises questions. The issue lies less in actual flaws than in the intention to present a record that, rather than reworking the genre’s conventions, lays them out without adding further substance.
Glimmers of light appear in the underwater dives of “Lys”, which in just three minutes already manages to say a great deal, and in the following “Nothing Motion”, where synthesizers fade away and resurface in a breath marked by an ecstatic tone. “Iridescent” is a composed and measured work, aiming for a detail-rich progressive ambient style, but one that rarely leaves room for surprise.

26/01/2026