zakè, City of Dawn - Agape (2022)

On Agape, pioneers of slow-evolving minimal drone, zakè (a.k.a. Zach Frizzell) and City of Dawn (a.k.a. Damien Duque) transform unadorned inputs into beautiful complexity. The drone duo, based in Texas and Indiana respectively, is known for their carefully crafted textures, avoiding sudden shifts or abrasive sororities. Their focus offer up the steady ebb and flow of sound, cultivating a profound sense of meditative stasis and explorations of high-fidelity sound.

These six extended pieces are organic and minimalist in nature, but has an ethereal, mirage-like quality to them. Somber, yet incredibly uplifting. Agape is the kind of ambient record that refuses to be reduced to mere background music – the harmonic foundation and the details of the soundscapes are too compelling for that. Frizzell and Duque manage to expand rather simple sonic ingredients into weightless ambient perfection.