From the same team who constitute Bipolar Explorer, here are Tremosphere – a duo comprising Sylvia Solanas and Michael Serafin-Wells. Where Bipolar Explorer opt for a form of “ambient dream pop” with an evangelical message of salvation, Tremosphere are if anything even more wispy and ethereal in their pursuit of spiritual truths through song. The album Saturated Solace (SLUGG RECORDS Slugg041CD) showcases the writing of French player Sylvia Solanas, who also sings and plays keyboards, bass, samples, field recordings and such; American Serafin-Wells is in the background for this project, adding his characteristic chiming guitar strums.
I shan’t say that these songs are overly “bleak”, but Solanas seems to draw her poetic inspiration from introspection and a continual analysis of her feelings, even when those feelings are confusing and uncertain. The lyrics are so personal it’s like we’re reading her mind, and she doesn’t even need to open her mouth. This caste of mind can’t help but be reflected in the low-ley, understated music, which might almost have been recorded during the hours of dusk, so smoky and twilit are the moods it engenders.
If you remember the 4AD label and Cocteau Twins with fondness, but you found that label’s groups a shade too “demonstrative” about their feelings and emotional register, step right this way. And if you want more of the same, we were also sent copies of two previous releases – Becoming Creatures from 2023, and Memoirs of a French Garden from 2022. (12/05/2025)