The ShortListen: The Daydream Club (no. 295)

Who? The Daydream Club

What’s the story? A great ambient record is a seemingly-simple, yet maddeningly-difficult thing to pull off. Trying to make something minimal and almost background-esque, whilst still drawing the listener in is a tricky task indeed. But Leicester-based duo The Daydream Club appear to have managed it with aplomb on their new Piano Project album. After gaining widespread acclaim with their debut record Overgrown, a beautiful collection of acoustic folk tracks, and the subsequent EP Found, they made the rather brave step to make their second full-length an entirely improvised instrumental piano album, played by one half of the duo, multi-instrumentalist Adam Pickering. The whole thing brings to mind the brilliant Riceboy Sleeps album by Jonsi (of Sigur Ros fame) & Alex as well as Brian Eno's 1978 classic Ambient 1: Music For Airports, with the final track, One Last Thought, a particularly fantastic moment. Turn off phone, step away from your busy life for a bit, and drift off with this on your headphones: you won't regret it.

For fans of: Jonsi & Alex, Brian Eno, The Album Leaf

In three words: Blissful ambient excellence