FROM THE FORTHCOMING AARKTICA ALBUM WE WILL FIND THE LIGHT OUT ON 9/30 VIA DARLA RECORDS
"A beautiful and dynamic ride between ambient electric symphony and intimate human song."
- Alan Sparhawk, Low.
"Evocative ambience and electronica." - Penny Black Music
"Aarktica has long been a reliable name for those interested in the more otherworldly and transporting side of the guitar.”- Dusted Magazine
"Under the guise of Aarktica, you never know where Jon DeRosa is going to end up." - Exclaim
"Why isn’t Jon DeRosa’s work as Aarktica mentioned in the same breath as Stars of the Lid or Eluvium when discussing ambient/drone music? Ever since losing hearing in his right ear in 1999, DeRosa has succeeded in using the drifting guitar tones of Aarktica to conjure up the underwater experience that hearing music has become for him.” - Pop Matters
LISTEN TO “DELICATE WALTZ OF SHADOWS”: HERE
Today Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist Jon DeRosa releases his second single “Delicate Waltz of Shadows” from his forthcoming album as Aarktica, We Will Find The Light, out September 30th via Darla Records. A journey through love, loss, and healing through growth, “Delicate Waltz of Shadows” captures the nature of forgiveness in the face of adversity, and finding solace in one’s goodness after their passing.
With gentle acoustic plucking, a slowly building string arrangement, and subtle, comforting electronic atmospheres, the song showcases Aarktica’s prowess in bridging meditative, grounded folk music with glistening ambient, bridging all sides of DeRosa’s sonic spectrum and setting the scene for nuanced emotions to pollinate. Lush electric guitars glide in the background, and guide the song through a lullaby-like exhale. “I remember, when you were kind / just like yesterday of another lifetime / and the love still flows / even when it’s got nowhere to go,” sings DeRosa.
For DeRosa, “Delicate Waltz of Shadows” was an experiment in being more observational, and opening himself up to “what is” without judgment or attachment. “In an ideal healing scenario, I can move past the pain of lost love, and appreciate the beauty of the memory of that person,” says DeRosa. “Who they once were to me, and the feelings we shared, without blame, judgment, and regret.” Healing is a nonlinear journey, and “Delicate Waltz of Shadows” reminds listeners that no person is as unforgivable as their worst impulses or characteristics, and that acceptance and forgiveness is an ally in the overall path towards healing.
“The album is about this idea that once we acknowledge certain wounds, weaknesses or unpleasant feelings, and instead of ignoring them, we dive headfirst into the darkness and face everything that is terrifying, there’s at least the possibility (and more so, the likelihood) that we will come out on the other end feeling stronger and more empowered,” says DeRosa.
“Delicate Waltz of Shadows” follows “Can’t Say I’ve Missed You,” the first offering from Aarktica off of the forthcoming We Will Find the Light, and another piece that finds DeRosa traversing through the canyons between ambient and folk genres. The emotional depth in DeRosa’s music runs like a river through the heart of We Will Find the Light.
Aarktica is the brainchild of Jon DeRosa, who has been releasing a diverse catalog of music under this name since 1999. We Will Find the Light produced by the Grammy-nominated producer Lewis Pesacov is Aarktica's most ambitious and sublime album to date and marks his first collaboration with Grammy-nominated producer Lewis Pesacov. The album is due out September 30th via Darla Records and will be available worldwide on all major streaming services, as a CD digipack, and as a limited edition double vinyl gatefold, all available for pre-order now. This is the first physical release from Aarktica since 2009's In Sea and the first full-length since 2019's Mareación.
Beginning in 1999 with the ambient guitar opus No Solace in Sleep (Silber), the classically trained DeRosa has spent the last two decades charting his way across cosmic terrains and ambient soundscapes through patient songwriting and a curiosity in experimentation. It's a journey that began with DeRosa recording guitar experiments on a four-track cassette recorder in his college dorm after going permanently deaf in his right ear.
"I was having aural hallucinations. Everything I knew as sonically 'normal' suddenly changed. When I started Aarktica, it was a bit like a sonic journal, trying to recreate and reinterpret sounds as I was hearing them." These recordings, which would become No Solace in Sleep, translated those classical musical forms he’d studied for years to electric guitar, stretched them into infinity, soaked them in reverb and delay, and created an entirely new sound identity that would evolve over the years.
We Will Find the Light blooms at the intersection of DeRosa’s influences and experiences and moves seamlessly through both melancholia and optimism, as he finds himself traversing the valleys of atmospheric ambient and wide-eyed folk, and revisiting his roots, crafting many of these songs on classical guitar, an approach he's never taken before as Aarktica. Hints of Leonard Cohen, This Mortal Coil, and Nick Cave shine through, intermingling with those of minimalist composers like Ingram Marshall, and ambient artists like Juliana Barwick and Steve Roach.
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Photo by Joelle Hannah