Writing back in January, we told you about Amparo, the atmospheric recording project of Arizona native Lela Amparo. Using guitars loops, piano and spoken word samples, the EP Rains demonstrated an artist engaged with the environment, soundscapes born of a keen eye for detail and the emotional resonance of any given space. “Rains wishes to reinforce the inherent beauty in the situation,” we wrote, “no matter how melancholic, and leave you with a mindful appreciation of your small part in the world around you.”
Amparo is back with a brand new record, Palm House, which continues this meditative style. The release is something of a sonic journal, using warm guitar loops to capture moments and memories that might otherwise be lost, preserving them in the fondest light. Opener ‘Hounds’ makes this clear from the off, bathed in warmth and displaying a sense of natural rhythm. Indeed, the songs on Palm House can be said to have an organic sensibility, each its own ecosystem of calm melodies.
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‘Oakwood’ has a more reflective vibe, though is coaxed into an uplifting rise, and ‘Coastal Dusk’ excavates the wistful imagery of its title, finding beauty in the small sense of loss that accompanies every change. With its shimmering energy, ‘Gardermoen’ plays like a tropical evening, the sun dipping below the horizon to cast pastel spectra across the water, while the slow unfurling brightness of ‘Strangers’ feels like a dawn awakening, the sun warming the land into life.
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Closer ‘Dalslands Honey’ is perhaps the most spacious track on the release, though again finds poignancy amidst serenity, great sweeping strings that might otherwise be mournful instead offering an affirming sensation. The track is indicative of Palm House, and indeed Amparo as a whole—melancholy not as some personal sadness or woe but rather a curious wonder, something to do with being a small part of a huge world, and something to do with the passing of time.
Palm House is out now on Modularfield Records and you can get it from Bandcamp.
