It is rather sobering to think that Oxygène, the original album, is now 50 years old. Listening to it remains a transporting experience, Jean-Michel Jarre‘s remote and often extremely calming world seemingly high above the clouds.
I remember hearing Oxygène for the first time in 1987, the day after a huge storm had wreaked havoc in southern England. There was an eerie calm outside, and the music matched it perfectly, reassuring in the face of unrest:
Published post no.2,996 – Wednesday 26 August 2026
No history of ambient electronic music could call itself complete without referring to The Orb. Spearheaded by Dr. Alex Paterson but including a wide range of collaborators over the last 35 years, The Orb have proved time and time again that kicking back into spacey music, with healthy influences from dub, hip hop, house and techno, works a treat every time. They have moved with the times, too, subtly shifting their style between albums without losing their identity.
My first encounter with their music was in the mid-1990s, a late-night listen to the second album U.F.Orb that proved pivotal. As the opening track, O.O.B.E., made itself known, a kind of aural bliss was achieved there and then, weird yet completely homely – and ever so British!
James Murray’s contributions to the quiet details series now number three, building on the Slowreels – Everyday Exotic collaboration with Ian Hawgood and Weeds, his debut solo album.
About the sequel, James has said, “Islands Alight making landfall amidst these relentless heatwaves and impending drought feels about right; environmental anxiety courses through the album like wildfire, consciously balanced only by the rising of pale, elemental waters.
Developed over four years, the origins go back further still. Drawing together wide- screen melodic, rhythmic and electroacoustic concerns, Islands Alight stands as a deliberate, defining work at the confluence of ambient dub roots and the artist I am now.”
What’s the music like?
Murray has a special way of working with deep musical ambience that combines both restfulness and emotion. Islands Alight is undoubtedly suitable for hot weather listening but has a cool edge to it, calming the fevered brow.
After Shallows sets the scene, its deep sounds in contrast to its title, before Becalmed builds with steady intensity, with stately and rather gorgeous shifting patterns. Whale Isles pans out again for an expansive view, and has real presence, glinting at the edges but underpinned by solid bass. Albatross soars but also applies a firm beat, before Murray goes for deeper bass with Sargasso, the dub elements coming through. In fact the percussion is deceptive, providing strong rhythmic profiles but somehow sitting in the background.
Does it all work?
It does. Murray paces things to perfection, and the overall ambience is lasting long after the album has finished.
Is it recommended?
Enthusiastically. The best ambient music manages to soothe but also inspire, and James Murray is capable of providing both in equal measure. An album to put on repeat, for sure.
Arcana.fm 