Electronic music is often a stylistic risk as the average listener tends to not fully understand and/or appreciate the craft and mastery. What may sound like a random series of blips, bleeps and bloops is actually countless hours of dedicated mastery and musicianship.

Cloudland Canyon is a Memphis based experimental music project led by Kip Uhlhorn (ex-The Red Scare / ex-Panthers), that is known for blending ambient, drone, krautrock, psychedelic, house music elements into a unique sonic universe. With the release of their new eponymous LP, Cloud Canyon continues to explore the boundaries of sound and space, taking the listener on a journey through lush soundscapes and immersive textures.

Cloudland Canyon kicks off with opening track “Circuit City” and leans full force into the electronic elements that make up the vast majority of the album. Cloudland Canyon is not new to the process as the band formed in 2002 and have been honing their mastery for over two decades. “Internet Dreams” once again relies mostly on the electronic elements, but carries more of a sense of whimsy and lightheartedness. “Future Perfect (Bad Decision)” changes the pace ever so slightly and leans in to more of a dreampop/gazey atmosphere that continue to add layers and depth to the album as a whole.

“SEA TACT/Whispering Waves” starts off with some droning sounds that feel like they could be found in a Peter Gabriel track. This carries on heavily for the first three minutes of the track before adding in some vocals for effect to prevent the track from being too monotonous given it has a heft runtime of five minutes and thirty seconds. “Recursive Excursions” once again touches on some dreampop/shoegaze-esque elements that blend beautifully within the overall electronic construct of the album. “Two Point Zero” (the album’s latest single) attempts to combine the elements on a singular track with remarkable results that sound like a solid mix of Everybody Makes Mistakes era Starflyer 59 with a more electronic twist.

“LV MCHNS” once again relies heavily on the electronic elements, but manages to approach things with a darker and spacier tone than is heard on the earlier portion of the album. “Spacebar Blues” shifts things back in to a more lighthearted tone as it steadily drones through. “Gimme Tension” closes out the album by once again utilizing the combination of elements found throughout the album. It manages to keeps things fairly simplistic while still creating something atmospheric.

Ultimately, Cloudland Canyon is an intricately constructed piece of art that showcases the band’s ability to layer and texture with what appears to be minimal effort as they have crafted their mastery for years. While it is a pleasant journey there are a couple of minor elements where tracks may unnecessarily drone on despite the same element working on other tracks. However, run times aside, there is a consistency found throughout the album that keeps things cohesive.

Cloudland Canyon is available now via Medical Records on all major streaming and digital platforms or physical copies can be ordered here.

You can connect with Cloudland Canyon on social media via Instagram.