Irish composer Seamus O’Muineachain unveils his seventh album of instrumental Ambient music titled Liminality. The album explores experiences of being in a liminal space which is the transitioning period from where you’ve been to where you are going whether in the physical, emotional, or metaphorical realm. Liminality follows two album releases from 2022 by O’Muineachain in Isthmus, which was inspired by Ireland’s northwestern Erris region, and Different Time Zones which he wrote abroad while spending time in the Czech Republic. Seamus O’Muineachain – Liminality offers the listener an instrumental experience that portrays direction without resolution to bring about its realistic liminal space vibes.
Liminality opens with the track titled Here which greets you with a tactile atmospheric ambiance that accompanies its opening rhythmic piano comping before transitioning to a simple and relaxing piano melody. If you’re like us and can’t get enough life-imitating ambiance, songs on the album like the third track titled Cinnamon and its combination of guitar and piano contributions alongside its living ambiance, or the all-ambient title track Liminality will help you fill that need. On the more instrumental side, Liminality also features tracks that are like Cinnamon which feature both piano and guitar contributions like the album’s fifth track titled Between Bridges which features a delightful back and forth between the two instruments melodically while accompanied by resonating orchestral string drones. Burning Streetlights, the album’s eighth track also features a call-and-answer sequence between the piano and guitar while also accompanied by orchestral string drones which in this case provide some powerful and bombastic low-end.
Liminality also has a selection of piano-focused tracks that include (It’s A Rare Thing) To Daydream, Rain On Samhain, Feel Light, and Oceans. Rain On Samhain has a clear and direct comforting piano melody to it to the point that it is the closest of all the tracks to the feeling of moving out of liminal space and across the threshold to a new reality. The all-piano track Oceans is another that features a powerful bass presence which in this case is provided by heavy-handed attacks on the piano’s lower keys. The tenth and final track from Seamus O’Muineachain – Liminality is a guitar-focused track titled Still Smouldering that includes multiple layers of guitar that go from simple chordal musings to a clear and calming melody. Once again the back and forth between the free-play moments from the guitar and the melodic structured sections keep the listener mentally in that liminal space again with that feeling of direction but no clear resolution. As a whole, the album is a relaxing and powerful demonstration of being in the midst of a transition and does so using well-chosen combinations of instruments and ambiance which is a trait that we have come to rely on from Seamus O’Muineachain’s previous six albums. Liminality can bring strength and comfort to those in times of transition.
Stream the Seamus O’Muineachain – Liminality album on Spotify below!
Seamus O’Muineachain – Liminality tracklist:
- Here 03:04
- (It’s a Rare Thing) To Daydream 02:13
- Cinnamon 02:24
- Rain on Samhain 02:45
- Between the Bridges 02:40
- Liminality 02:07
- Feel Light 02:05
- Burning Streetlights 02:46
- Oceans 02:32
- Still Smouldering 02:38
