Settlers by Western Skies Motel

TOP 16 AMBIENT ALBUMS OF 2016 - 9/10 STARS "I’m not sure if Schelbeck has seen No Country For Old Men, but I’m pretty sure if you hooked this album up and let it play underneath, it’d sync up Floyd/ Wizard of Oz style." - DROWNED IN SOUND

#7 BEST ALBUM OF 2016 - 9/10 STARS - "Western Skies Motel is Danish guitar maestro René González Schelbeck who has managed to concoct one of those albums which from the very opening notes engulfs you band takes you to a place more peaceful than where you reside." - NORMAN RECORDS

BEST OF 2016: MUSIC FOR THE FROSTY NIGHT WHEN I MISS YOUR WARM LIGHT - "The music penetrates each living cell and every atom, evading all analysis and tests...it feels so very raw and special" - HEADPHONE COMMUTE

BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 - PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE DK

#1 BEST ALBUM OF 2016 - DIVE INTO SUN

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TOP 10 OVERLOOKED ALBUMS OF 2016 - THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

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"The Danish musician’s experimental folk instrumentals blend cyclical guitar and droning harmonium into hypnotic reimaginings of Americana style graced by the life experience of a post-rock fan who cut his teeth in punk bands" - TINY MIX TAPES

BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 - "This is slow, beautifully articulated highly emotive music that feels willingly out of step with the world in 2016, which is also why it is so important." - CYCLIC DEFROST

BEST ACOUSTIC, PRIMITIVE, & EXPERIMENTAL FOLK OF 2016 "Americana, British folk, European modern classical, ambient drone, and even echoes of post-rock and noise simmering beneath the surface. All of this is framed in a weathered, minimalist sensibility that makes Settlers satisfying much in the same way as a Hemingway or Steinbeck novel – not a word, or in this case a note, wasted." - STATIONARY TRAVELS

"The music itself feels old, worn and somehow creased, the skin around its eyes wrinkled with the passage of the years...Don’t confuse old age for weakness, though, because the music speaks with a wise, experienced voice." - FLUID RADIO

"Sometimes you stumble on a record that you never want to give up or forget. The new album from Western Skies Motel is just such an album." - DAS FILTER

"Enjoyable throughout... what’s striking is the consistent good judgement. A-" - THE VINYL DISTRICT

"The soft floating guitar feels perfectly at home with the turn of the century imagery used alongside. The music feels classic and timeless. This is definitely a record I’ll be tossing on after a shit day at the office, could sooth any weary soul." - SLY VINYL

"There's an elegance and refinement to Schelbeck's playing that aligns him naturally to the British folk tradition...and yet, despite that, Settlers exudes an undeniably American aura" - TEXTURA

"It’s the sound of the hard-fought quiet night, the song on the front stoop, the roast in the oven and the pie on the sill... The message seems to be: life is hard, but we’ll get through it." - A CLOSER LISTEN

Album of the Week" - MUSIC WON'T SAVE YOU

"Settlers is solemn, contemplative music. It’s the sort of music that ideally, would soundtrack sitting on the porch of a prairie box house at dusk after a long day’s work in the fields, as the sun sets over hills and the cool, solitary night settles in" - OPUS.FM

"This may be the most beautiful electro acoustic, drone/ambient/folk release I have ever heard." - MUGWUMB

"Western Skies Motel has made a great album, one which conjures a land that’s as hard and unforgiving as it is beautiful." - WAKE THE DEAF

"What we have here is a pensive, brooding mood wonderfully evoked over 40 minutes or so." - NO MORE WORKHORSE

"Western Skies Motel absolute nails the rustic beauty and sadness of a lonely trail of settlers. Melodic but understated, I’ve found this on repeat in the quiet hours of the night and feeling intensely sad, but also at times the warmth of home too." - HIGHER PLAINS MUSIC
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In the dry desert of Arizona that Lost Tribe Sound calls home, a letter is received from guitarist René Gonzàlez Schelbeck who’s eager to share a collection of intimately composed songs, titled 'Settlers'. Upon listening, we are immediately enthralled. There’s a timeworn, arid, and almost badlands quality to Schelbeck’s hypnotic, cyclical guitar style. It seems to perfectly capture the lonely, barren landscape of the American West.

Yet, there are curious dynamics at play here as Schelbeck, who makes music under the alias Western Skies Motel, is from Denmark and far removed from any upbringing in the rough-hewn Americana style of folk guitar. Conceivably, his music has more in common with the lonesome, calculated tone of Berlin's modern classical scene or the rainy day folk of the UK. Those are intriguing parallels, since the collective mood of Western Skies Motel's music would adapt so well to either environment.

Words hardly do justice to the rich, immersive experience of 'Settlers'; yet a few may help to set the stage. Schelbeck is a remarkably well rounded instrumentalist, who spent his early days losing his hearing in local punk rock bands. This youthful love for walls of sound and discordant guitar squalls survives in his modern sound palette. However, a more mature approach to these techniques brings moments of palpable tension, adding in uneasy waves of guitar feedback and droning harmonium.

But ultimately, the truth of what Schelbeck hopes to convey through his music may rest firmly in his subconscious. In hindsight, 'Settlers' is about moving between worlds: not in the dimensional sense, but more as a constant change in form. Each influence and sound Schelbeck incorporates into his music feels native to the delicate ecosystem of these songs and each turn feels as organic and nuanced as that of the natural world. Just as a tree’s leaves wither and fall; a fire sparks and expands only to expend its last bit of fuel, extinguished and left for ash. So true are the parallels we find in our own existence, the complex ritual of growing old and returning to dirt. Decay is inevitable for all life, yet through this it becomes the rich soil for all things proceeding. Western Skies Motel's weighty instrumental mantras may root in this and other meanings yet to be culled. One thing is clear, this music contains significant power, and, regardless of our conceived themes or geographic locations, it tells a story that is lasting and instantly familiar.

Mastered for vinyl by Taylor Deupree (12k), and with the additional step taken to create the master lacquers with Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering, 'Settlers' sees a 180-gram heavy weight gatefold release very similar to the recent Mute Forest debut, 'Deforestation'. The acetate and test pressings were scrutinized for anomalies on world-class vinyl setups at Arizona’s esteemed audio dealer, Arizona Hi-Fi. Purchasers of the physical edition of 'Settlers' will also receive the six song bonus EP, 'Generations'. Mastered by Kirk Marrison of Kiln (Ghostly Intl.), 'Generations' expands the 'Settlers' cause.

Western Skies Motel is building upon a busy year in 2015, having released two very different full-length albums 'Prism' (Preserved Sound) and 'Buried and Resurfaced' (Twice Removed).
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Western Skies Motel is an instrumental project from Denmark. Inspired by winds and still air, forests and deserts, silence and noise.

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