Release date: March 9th 2018
We first came across Aukai, an ambient/acoustic project by Markus Sieber, about two years ago when we were seriously impressed by his debut self-titled album. He is now back with his second album, Branches Of Sun, and it is just as beautiful as the first.
The long and short of the matter is that Branches Of Sun is absolutely beautiful. It’s fairly sparse and minimalistic, but that works in the music’s favour because it makes you pay closer attention to all the small little embellishments nestled within the course of the album – Branches Of Sun is one of those pieces that you’ll pick up something new on every subsequent listen.
Like with Aukai, the ronroco (a stringed Argentinian mandolin-like instrument) is used again on Branches Of Sun, although this time perhaps taking a more back-seat role. The uniqueness and colour of its tone adds a nice texture to the music, and slots in very nicely next to the string instruments – second track Oars being a particularly good example of this.
The title track is one of the highlights of the album; there’s a lot of layers to the track with repeating melodies worming their way into your head before you realise anything different, and the extensive use of many instruments over the tracks course works well in keeping the song fresh even though it only features a handful of unique melodies – this is songwriting done extremely well.
Once again, Aukai has made a stunning piece of work. Branches Of Sun is an excellent follow-up to the debut, and showcases Aukai at its best once more.
10/10
