This album was created predominantly in early 2014 when I was the Artist in Residence at the Audio Foundation in Myers Park, Auckland. Further arrangement and recording done at SCHQ, Newtown, Wellington. Available now to listen/ download and pay what you like. Limited edition cassettes will be available at live performances.

Review thanks to Alex Mitcalfe Wilson (cargocollective.com/retaildisplay) :
“I.Ryoko is Thomas Lambert’s longest-running musical project, a musical identity that has evolved through his deep involvement with independent music and sonic art over many years. Imbued with thought and care, I.Ryoko’s latest album, Opening, is a polished suite of nine recordings that showcase Lambert’s signature juxtaposition of synthetic and recorded sound with his own nuanced voice. The overall mood is both energetic and insistent, its assemblage of sounds challenging the listener and demanding their full attention.

Each of the album’s parts is arranged with a keen attention to rhythm, narrative and flow that is rare in abstract music; their striking sonic contrasts arranged with a singular dedication to the construction of an emergent, collective whole. The tracks oscillate between swollen, overlapping tonal peaks and rigorous, stripped-back arrangements that resonate in empty time.

Throughout Opening, Lambert’s control of soundscape is elegant and light-handed. Mixing each of its tracks for the maximum of sonic richness and emotional impact, he created an album that follows in the strongest traditions of exploratory electronic music while taking stock of the latest possibilities of digital sound. Opening is, at all of its diverse moments, an immersive listening experience that demands attention, constantly reminding the listener of its composer’s expertise and his drive to tell the stories of our world.”