Lichens
Hypnotic wordless chants and modular synth loops that feel like ancient rituals. Deeply immersive drone for moments of profound stillness.
Hypnotic wordless chants and modular synth loops that feel like ancient rituals. Deeply immersive drone for moments of profound stillness.
Lichens creates a sound that feels less like a musical performance and more like a sacred architectural space. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe uses his voice as a primary instrument, layering wordless, liturgical chants over shimmering beds of modular synthesis and acoustic guitar. The result is a dense, vibrating atmosphere that pulls the listener into a state of suspended animation, where time feels elastic and the physical world begins to blur.
What distinguishes Lichens is the raw, improvisational nature of the recordings. Unlike many ambient artists who rely on meticulous digital editing, Lowe often captures these pieces in single takes, allowing for spontaneous micro-fluctuations in pitch and rhythm. This human element gives the music a biological, breathing quality, reminiscent of the natural growth patterns of the organisms for which the project is named.
For those new to this sonic world, The Psychic Nature of Being is the essential starting point. It perfectly captures the transition from Lowe's art-rock roots into the deep-listening drone that would define his solo career. It is music for the patient listener, rewarding those who can sit with a single frequency until it reveals its hidden complexities.
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe is an American musician, composer and sound artist who formerly recorded under the moniker Lichens. In live past performances as Lichens and currently as Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Lowe incorporates spontaneous arrangements of voice and modular synthesizer patch pieces. Lowe was previously a member of 90 Day Men before beginning the moniker. In the past, Lowe would use acoustic and electric guitars, and on some occasions, percussion. Lichens' first release was The Psychic Nature of Being, a three-track album recorded as a one-time improvisation without overdubbing. In 2007, Lichens released Omns, which was intended to be a continuation of The Psychic Nature of Being using slightly different techniques in recording and editing. Since 2007 Lowe has been focused on live performance and the physicality of sound as well as many releases and collaborations. In 2008, Lichens toured extensively opening for instrumental post-rock band Explosions in the Sky and played at their curated All Tomorrow's Parties music festival. Lowe performed in the noise rock supergroup Singer, playing bass and providing vocals on two albums for Drag City with Todd Rittman and Adam Vida of U.S. Maple and Ben Vida of Town & Country. He performed tambura and vocals for stoner/doom metal band Om on their albums God Is Good and Advaitic Songs, and also joined them on stage. He contributed with vocals on the album Monument to Time End by black metal band Twilight. In 2012, Lowe contributed the tracks Shoreline Scoring and Faeries to Ashim Ahluwalia's film, Miss Lovely.
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