Mirage, by Ben Lukas Boysen

Ben Lukas Boysen - Medela

Mirage

by Ben Lukas Boysen

supported by

solisounds The sound sculpting on display here is extraordinary. A truly brilliant work. Favorite track: Medela.

nicktripswitch There are very very few producers I hold in the same level of awe as BLB. I was late to pick this album up but I’m utterly floored once again. Like literally, ‘Love’ has had me on the floor with my arms to the heavens, every muscle in my body tense embracing the sheer power and majesty of it all. And that’s just one track in a collection of brilliance. Outstanding work Ben.

edcox Cello, sax, flugelhorn and voice are bent, processed and layered, sometimes beyond recognition, yet are at home among the pulsing synths and more natural-sounding piano and jazzy drums. This is a rich, warm and satisfying release. Favorite track: Kenotaph.

more...

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

£6 GBP or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Mirage via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 2 days

Purchasable with gift card

£18 GBP or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Mirage via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 2 days

Purchasable with gift card

£11 GBP or more

1.	Empyrean 06:58	info	buy track
2.	Kenotaph 04:43	info	buy track
3.	Medela 08:41 video	info	buy track
4.	Venia 08:20	info	buy track
5.	Clarion 07:16	info	buy track
6.	Love 06:18	info	buy track

about

Berlin based composer and producer Ben Lukas Boysen returns with his most progressive and shape-shifting work to date, the long awaited Mirage, on 1 May 2020 with Erased Tapes. The third album to be penned under his own name proceeding his Hecq moniker, Mirage follows 2013’s Gravity and the acclaimed 2016 full length Spells, a record as much admired by his peers as it was loved by fans that not only yielded remixes from Max Cooper and Tim Hecker, but also opened Jon Hopkins’ Late Night Tales compilation.

Since the release of Spells, Ben continued to be in demand for his scoring abilities, collaborating with cellist and composer Sebastian Plano on the music for David OReilly’s landmark innovative video game Everything. It was added to the long list for the Best Animated Short at the 90th Academy Awards, making it the first video game to qualify for an Oscar. In 2019 Ben contributed to the Brainwaves project alongside fellow Erased Tapes artists Michael Price and Högni Egilsson in collaboration with a team of scientists at Goldsmiths University, London — linking states of consciousness and music. He also scored the soundtrack to the DAFF award-winning German TV show Beat, the feature film The Collini Case, and co-composed the music for the short film Manifesto with Nils Frahm, starring Cate Blanchett.

As with Gravity and Spells, Ben has an array of musical guests adorning Mirage, including long time collaborator, Berlin based cellist and composer Anne Müller as well as Australian saxophonist and composer Daniel Thorne — for whom Ben wrote parts specifically, having heard his 2019 solo debut Lines of Sight. Lead track Medela features both and takes the listener on a kaleidoscopic journey that slides with ease across sonic terrains. By the end it’s difficult to tell what exactly was heard; “I wanted to experiment with blending these recordings with 100% artificial elements, often to points where an instrument becomes an abstraction of what it was and the musicians’ presence in the song is much more of an important DNA string in the song rather than an obvious layer.”

Mirage, like its title suggests, feels like a sonic optical illusion — each piece containing sounds and techniques bent and processed to make them seem overexposed; the overly felt-y piano on Clarion, Daniel Thorne’s saxophone on Medela, the single note voice of Lisa Morgenstern splitting into different chords on Empyrean. It is detectable but also easily missed, like the double piano on Kenotaph that could be perceived as one, but is actually two pianos in two different rooms, separate countries even — one is digital while the other is acoustic.

While on Spells Ben made programmed pieces sound indistinguishable from human playing, with Mirage he set out to do the opposite and make the human touch unrecognisable, creating something of a mystery or a mirage.

“A lot of the elements and instruments you hear on the album are either not what you think they are, or exactly what you think they are but behave differently or they’re elements you definitely know but they are hidden, processed, or morphed into something else. With Spells and Gravity I was trying to hide the machines. On Mirage, I’m trying to hide the human” — Ben Lukas Boysen

credits

released May 1, 2020

Written and produced by Ben Lukas Boysen
Published by Erased Tapes Music
Creative Producer: Robert Raths
Drums and Flügelhorn recorded at Popschutz Studios in Berlin
Mixing by Martyn Heyne and Ben Lukas Boysen at Lichte Studio
Mastering by Zino Mikorey
Vinyl cut by Barry Grint at Alchemy in London
Artwork by Torsten Posselt

license

total		USD

about

Ben Lukas Boysen Berlin, Germany

Though ‘Spells’ and ‘Gravity’ are his first albums recorded under his own name, as acclaimed electronic producer HECQ he’s released nine albums since 2003, exploring everything from ambient to breakcore. He has simultaneously established himself as a trusted composer and sound designer, working for a wide array of clients including Amnesty International and Marvel Comics. ... more

contact / help

Contact Ben Lukas Boysen

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Ben Lukas Boysen, you may also like:

The Undivided Five
by A Winged Victory for the Sullen

supported by 99 fans who also own “Mirage”

A beautiful sonic journey! Joe
go to album
Articulation
by Rival Consoles

supported by 96 fans who also own “Mirage”

A must! An album to have! NOCUI
go to album
Empty
by Nils Frahm

supported by 94 fans who also own “Mirage”

Frahm delivers another beautiful collection of piano pieces. His music is delicate, emotional, quiet, and powerful. For fans of Harold Budd. Anu Kirk
go to album
Empty Spaces
by Fingerhut Kollektiv

A whopping 38-track compilation of hushed electronic music ranging from techno to ambient. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 17, 2021
go to album
STATIC - Original Surf Soundtracks Vol.1
by CJ Mirra

Never mind The Ventures; CJ Mirra dreams up a new sound of surf, built from moody, expansive electronics and soft, organic textures. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 7, 2018
go to album
Burn:Cycle - Original Game Soundtrack (Remastered)
by Simon Boswell & Chris Whitten

Simon Boswell's 1994 soundtrack to the video game Burn:Cycle is one of the most innovative uses of orchestral synths in game music. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 23, 2017
go to album
All Melody
by Nils Frahm

supported by 82 fans who also own “Mirage”

This is something else. Put it on repeat play for a few days. Highly addictive, in a nice one. Rhythm, idea, harmony pace feeling. Amazing jax
go to album