TIDES Inglorious Ocean compilation
TIDES is a compilation of ambient and electronic sounds exploring the boundaries of contemporary listening. Released 6 February by independent label Inglorious Ocean, TIDES is a “collective journey through ever-shifting soundscapes, where synthesizers, expansive textures and sparse rhythms intertwine in an emotional flow suspended between intimacy and abstraction”.
The compilation’s title is a metaphor for the vision of the Inglorious Ocean community: “a context in which individuality is not lost but amplified through connection with others, and personal exploration opens onto a shared landscape”.
The majority of contributions to TIDES come from Italian artists, among them is “The Centre” by Sicilian multi-instrumentalist and producer Laura Caviglia, known artistically as Silver Y. “The Centre” begins with timid and uncertain emotion. Small up-turns toward stability surface, while de-stabilising waves make themselves apparent, working against the gains in stability. “The Centre” reaches its settling point and quiets. There is a quick reassurance that stability has been restored, but also a subtle, yet dark reminder that it can always be lost.
When I asked Laura about the track, she reflected on it as one composed while working to regain her own centre – that anchor that many of us feel is missing or unbalanced during an unhappy period or challenging life event.
“The control you normally have over what happens in your life – your decisions, your perception of yourself,” Laura explained, “you can feel yourself more susceptible to external forces than to your own voice in these moments.”
Other favourites on TIDES include “Downtempo Void” by Perry Frank, “Bois Franc” by Antoine Gagné, and “Call of the Void” by Chelidon Frame. Not sure why I was drawn to the voids, but there you go!
“Downtempo Void” by Perry Frank brings warmer sounds of effected guitar, warbled and blown out, like a storm moving along its path, bringing your awareness to someone else’s stormy now, off in the distance. A degree of lament is detected, as in Kevin Shields’ “Goodbye” from the Lost In Translation soundtrack – that sadness in confronting the dawn of a new day, parting with a euphoric experience, filing it away definitively among memories.
Perry Frank is the project of Francesco Perra, known for its atmospheric soundscapes blending shoegaze, noise, glitch and post-rock. “Downtempo Void” was written during the sessions of my new album Scenario,” Francesco explained. “It was inspired by a mix of sadness and melancholy that I was feeling in that period.”
“Call of the Void” by Chelidon Frame (Alessio Premoli) is an expansive and oppressive front, punctured by a safety line that is too frail to rescue you.
“Actually, the track is a very personal one for me, inspired by some life events in 2025,” Alessio told me. The “call of the void” is a very dark theme in psychology – an urge to do something dangerous even though you don’t intend to actually do it. I wrote down the title in a notebook, forgetting about its meaning. When I closed the track, I found that notebook again and felt it was the perfect title for the atmosphere created.”
“Bois Franc” by Antoine Gagné, the only of the artists from outside of Italy, is anxious and furious with sudden gasps for air.
Overall, the compositions of the TIDES compilation feel personal, but universal. As the label notes, “each track stands as an autonomous presence while remaining interconnected, part of a continuum that invites deep, contemplative, and immersive listening”.
Follow Inglorious Ocean on Instagram for a track-by-track guide through TIDES.
Read more about Silver Y and her debut album In the Depths in this blank mood Q+A. Her album In the Depths is available on CD for a friendly price.
You can catch Perry Frank live in Leeds, UK on 14 March (Ambient Leeds). His new album Scenario is available on CD, also for a friendly price.
Have a look/listen of Chelidon Frame’s data sonifications.