Imaginary Realities: A Musical Ride Through Dreamlike Spaces with Artists Phillip Wilkerson and Chris Russell

PORTLAND, OR, UNITED STATES, January 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Since the first cave paintings, the first fireside stories, art has been a vehicle of escape from the stressors of the world. Phillip Wilkerson and Chris Russell’s newest collaboration, Imaginary Realities, was written with that escape in mind. Wrought in bright drones and glimmering flourishes, this album is a portal to another place, a reprieve from the mundane in the realm of the extraordinary. Available now on your platform of choice at https://orcd.co/imaginary-realities and on Bandcamp.

Imaginary Realities is currently featured on Spotted Peccary's recently-resurrected and freshly-named Music is Art Podcast, along with a preview of the forthcoming iota by AeTopus. Listen at: https://spottedpeccary.com/musicisart/2/

While prior collaborations -- Vague Traces and Dark Measures -- took inspiration from our world, Imaginary Realities is quintessentially dreamlike, from the opening chimes of “Liftoff” to the closing chords of the title track. “Dissipation” shimmers and warbles like polarized magnets drawing closer and then receding. “Revealing the Concealed” begins with sparse piano before blooming into a shifting nebula of harmonic textures. “Abandoning Desire” hums with contemplation, with shades of Russell’s dark ambient solo work in its vibrating drones. Gentle strums add a percussive heartbeat to the drone’s sonorous breaths, ritualistic in their rhythm. Then, the piece brightens, carried by a sun-washed texture from the caverns to the skies. Back and forth, it compresses and releases, a seamless dance between darkness and warmth: the sound of all the needs for earthly possession, one by one, held to the light and let go. The closing title track is a sonic image of aurorae, colors swimming in the night sky.

Russell describes the joy of collaboration as “being taken to places you couldn’t get to by yourself,” and that sense of exploration is abundant here. In its shimmering fractals of sound, Imaginary Realities gives glimpses of other worlds, inviting the listener to move from vision to vision as a voyager in a dream. "I've stated in the past that our previous albums have real world themes but this album has a dreamlike quality. For me personally this album was an escape from the craziness and stress from everyday life. I had fun working with Phillip creating an alternate reality to immerse in that was better and more evolved than the current one."

"As I recall," reflects Wilkerson, "I sent the seed tracks to Chris and told him about the inspiration. Chris has a great way of taking my minimalist recordings and adding his creative accents and treatments to make it all work. He’s a joy to work with. His solo work is mostly (IMHO) more abstract and darker than I often only tentatively explore. But he dives right in and adds his vision to the tracks. It results in a good mix of minimal abstract ambient music with a distinct and unique sound, which I enjoy listening to because it has a certain intriguing subtlety."

Russell adds his take on how the project felt. "Coming off the dark night time adventure that was Dark Measures I was instantly intrigued by Phillips' idea of creating imaginary realities. I wanted to take this album in an almost dream-like direction. I also was excited because unlike a long gap after the Vague Traces album that Phillip and I began work on almost right after the release of Dark Measures."

The official video for the track “Dissipation” can be seen here, produced by Joe Abreu at Spotted Peccary Studios SW. https://youtu.be/1WxaK-bUTUQ?si=CVeoovuNSpny6GPZ

All music written, recorded, and mixed by Phillip Wilkerson and Chris Russell. Mastering by Howard Givens at Spotted Peccary PNW Studios, and graphic design by Daniel Pipitone at Spotted Peccary Studios NE. Imaginary Realities is available for streaming and downloading, including high resolution studio master formats.

For artist interviews, reviews, or promotional requests, please contact Beth Ann Hilton via [email protected]

Tracklist:
1 Liftoff 07:22
2 Dissipation 09:02
3 Principles of Creation 06:52
4 Manifesting Presence 07:52
5 Revealing the Concealed 07:07
6 Abandoning Desire 14:23
7 Imaginary Realities 08:49

Links:
Music Smartlink with various platforms: https://orcd.co/imaginary-realities
Official Music Page: https://spottedpeccary.com/shop/imaginary-realities/
Bandcamp: https://wilkerson-russell.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-realities
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3gITn5lkJyaxXoFtzoU27D?si=qiET9g2sQMeF0o-UQ0VgVw

About Phillip Wilkerson
Phillip Wilkerson was raised in a musical family and taught to appreciate and create music from a young age. He plays piano, guitar, and drums, and in his mid-twenties began experimenting with synthesizers. He has been recording and releasing ambient music since 2005 on a number of net labels, including Earth Mantra.

About Chris Russell
An ambient music artist who has been releasing albums since 2009, Chris Russell finds inspiration from both the simplicity of nature and the vast infinity of the universe. Using the studio as his instrument, he melds software and hardware synthesizers, bass guitar, and various indigenous instruments to produce original and unique textures and abstract paintings of sound. Chris is just entering the end of decade of making ambient music, and he is both proud of his past work and certain that the best is yet to come.

About Spotted Peccary Music
Portland-based Spotted Peccary Music is North America’s finest independent record label with a focus on deep, vast and introspective soundscapes. For over three decades, the artists of Spotted Peccary have been on a mission to develop, produce, publish and release ultra-high-quality, deep-listening experiences that engage the listener and exceed expectations. Every release is carefully prepared in a variety of high-quality formats from MP3 to high-res studio masters. In 2023, they were named Best Independent Record Label by the HIMAwards. Explore more than 200 titles and 50 artists released over 38 years of excellence at www.SpottedPeccary.com and www.AmbientElectronic.com

Beth Hilton
Spotted Peccary Music
+1 310-560-8390
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