Paul Mallatratt – We Meet At Dawn, Middle Distance, The Long Ones Vol 2
British ambient musician Paul Mallatratt has become quite the prolific composer.
Over the last four years he has written, recorded and released fourteen albums, a couple of singles, an EP and a two-volume collection with even more prolific ambient artist D York.
But, as Mallatratt himself says, "it’s more about how the music tends to write itself, which I have very little control over."
The results are a highly creative artist who plies his trade in the worlds of ambient, atmospheric, drone, and field recording soundscapes.
Interesting and aurally satisfying proof of the above comes in the various ambient shades of We Meet At Dawn, Middle Distance and The Long Ones Vol 2, all released in the first half of 2025.
The atmospheric We Meet At Dawn, with a (loose) concept based on the fondness of remembrance, is Paul Mallatratt’s attempt at shorter form composition.
However, while the ten tracks have an average length of seven minutes, only one sits within that range, reinforcing Mallatratt’s comment that the music tends to write itself (until reaching its natural conclusion).
The lush, choral ambience of 'We Meet At Dawn,' for example, is nine minutes long while companion piece 'We Meet No More' is a synth blanketed, fond farewell of fourteen minutes.
Other highlights include the ringing (and again choral) atmospheres of 'Lava Glass,' the ambient delicacy of 'Jackie' (referencing Paul Mallatratt’s mother) and, playing in complement to the latter, the synth-sombre 'Roger, And Out' (Mallatratt’s father).
Over the last four years he has written, recorded and released fourteen albums, a couple of singles, an EP and a two-volume collection with even more prolific ambient artist D York.
But, as Mallatratt himself says, "it’s more about how the music tends to write itself, which I have very little control over."
The results are a highly creative artist who plies his trade in the worlds of ambient, atmospheric, drone, and field recording soundscapes.
Interesting and aurally satisfying proof of the above comes in the various ambient shades of We Meet At Dawn, Middle Distance and The Long Ones Vol 2, all released in the first half of 2025.
The atmospheric We Meet At Dawn, with a (loose) concept based on the fondness of remembrance, is Paul Mallatratt’s attempt at shorter form composition.
However, while the ten tracks have an average length of seven minutes, only one sits within that range, reinforcing Mallatratt’s comment that the music tends to write itself (until reaching its natural conclusion).
The lush, choral ambience of 'We Meet At Dawn,' for example, is nine minutes long while companion piece 'We Meet No More' is a synth blanketed, fond farewell of fourteen minutes.
Other highlights include the ringing (and again choral) atmospheres of 'Lava Glass,' the ambient delicacy of 'Jackie' (referencing Paul Mallatratt’s mother) and, playing in complement to the latter, the synth-sombre 'Roger, And Out' (Mallatratt’s father).
Drone music album Middle Distance, written for and released on International Drone Day, creates, as the title hints at, a sonic perception of distance whilst tonally joining the ear to the mind (and body) through the vibrational (an essential component of drone music).
The hour-long, three part album starts in the atmospheric 'Foreground,' where synth pads and electronica are interspersed by what sounds like rhythmic pulses of bass guitar notes (nice punctuated touch); the vibrational aspect develops further when reaching the 'Middle Distance,' where washes of electronica sounds give the piece a darker tone.
'Horizon' carries such an otherworldly soundscape, or aural landscape, that it could be the horizon of another planet, and not our own ball of rock.
The vibrational shimmer and eerier electronica certainly make it as much a sci-fi soundtrack as long-form drone piece.
The hour-long, three part album starts in the atmospheric 'Foreground,' where synth pads and electronica are interspersed by what sounds like rhythmic pulses of bass guitar notes (nice punctuated touch); the vibrational aspect develops further when reaching the 'Middle Distance,' where washes of electronica sounds give the piece a darker tone.
'Horizon' carries such an otherworldly soundscape, or aural landscape, that it could be the horizon of another planet, and not our own ball of rock.
The vibrational shimmer and eerier electronica certainly make it as much a sci-fi soundtrack as long-form drone piece.
The Long Ones Vol 2 is right in the wheelhouse of Paul Mallatratt, as he sails the ambient seas of long-form ambience with three tracks that cover nearly ninety minutes in total.
The companion to 2023’s 3-track, near eighty-minute opus The Long Ones, the second installment is a more adventurous experience, as opposed to the meditative ambience of the original.
The first half of 'It's Not What You Think' merges the likes of Fripp and Eno in experimental art-rock/ soundscape mode over a simple four-note pulse on repeat.
The piece then moves through darker electronica to come out the other side as dreamy, mid-tempo electro-pop, itself influenced by Paul Mallatratt seeing Swedish electronic duo Carbon Based Lifeforms perform live.
The near forty minute 'The Day It Rained' is a synth pad heavy piece that features the sound of splashing cascades of water (from, of all things, a leaking gutter); the results are a darker (and colder) piece that is also strangely meditative.
'Come Back Later' is another to feature recordings of water, but here in the much warmer setting of lapping waves on a beach shoreline.
An ambient piece that shimmers like a summer breeze (via heavily treated wind chimes and bells), 'Come Back Later' is an atmospheric call from a sandy coastline to do just that.
Each album here has something to offer the ambient/ soundscape aficionado.
The somewhat poignant We Meet At Dawn is an accessible journey through the world of ambient music;
Middle Distance is a fine example of vibrational drone music; The Long Ones Vol 2 is one of Paul Mallatratt’s most adventurous long-form works yet.
Long may his ambient, "the pieces write themselves" prolificacy continue.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Explore Paul Mallatratt’s entire catalogue at: https://paulmallatratt.bandcamp.com/
The companion to 2023’s 3-track, near eighty-minute opus The Long Ones, the second installment is a more adventurous experience, as opposed to the meditative ambience of the original.
The first half of 'It's Not What You Think' merges the likes of Fripp and Eno in experimental art-rock/ soundscape mode over a simple four-note pulse on repeat.
The piece then moves through darker electronica to come out the other side as dreamy, mid-tempo electro-pop, itself influenced by Paul Mallatratt seeing Swedish electronic duo Carbon Based Lifeforms perform live.
The near forty minute 'The Day It Rained' is a synth pad heavy piece that features the sound of splashing cascades of water (from, of all things, a leaking gutter); the results are a darker (and colder) piece that is also strangely meditative.
'Come Back Later' is another to feature recordings of water, but here in the much warmer setting of lapping waves on a beach shoreline.
An ambient piece that shimmers like a summer breeze (via heavily treated wind chimes and bells), 'Come Back Later' is an atmospheric call from a sandy coastline to do just that.
Each album here has something to offer the ambient/ soundscape aficionado.
The somewhat poignant We Meet At Dawn is an accessible journey through the world of ambient music;
Middle Distance is a fine example of vibrational drone music; The Long Ones Vol 2 is one of Paul Mallatratt’s most adventurous long-form works yet.
Long may his ambient, "the pieces write themselves" prolificacy continue.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Explore Paul Mallatratt’s entire catalogue at: https://paulmallatratt.bandcamp.com/