Fluorescent Heights

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Customer reviews
Press release

5...according to our Business Lady on Wed 08 Feb, 2012.

A gentle swaying arpeggio is never gonna disappoint my ears...ever. If it's a light bouncy affair with a little tape echo or delay added to suggest melodic infinity I'm instantly sold. Henrik Stelzer a.k.a Fluorescent Heights begins 'Tourism' with a perfect example of the kind of thing I mean. Juno 6 with the arpeggio on hold - a 6 step cascading melody - tons of 'verb - and you're home. It's so beautifully simple and yet it never fails to please. 'Tourism' is a synth record...and I mean just synths. It's the kind of record I'd assumed I'd be hearing more of in 2012 but is in surprisingly scant supply of late. It's the kind of ambience I can get behind due to its inherent dependency of arpeggio to create a pulse-like rhythm...I can't listen to ambient music without, it just doesn't work for me. 'Tourism' is chocker with these reflective new age-sounding loops of dreamy ambience. The crunching tone of these analogue synths are a record in themselves and Stelzer is aware of this - harnessing the simplest of motifs into full conceived pieces with little to no effort. Blissful stuff and well worth your time. Recommended to folk who like Dolphins Into The Future, High Wolf, Eno, Stella Om Source, Oneohtrix Point Never, Nest, Emeralds...the list goes on.

12" Oceanic blue/semi-transparent blue vinyl in fully printed sleeve, 300gr cardboard with 3mm spine all the way around. Download holds extra bonus track downloads.

Henrik Stelzer, otherwise known as FLUORESCENT HEIGHTS, is the man behind the chillingly serene sounds on his debut album “Tourism.” The record comes from Danish label Subsuburban in an edition of 300 on turquoise blue vinyl.

“Tourism” is a gorgeous collection of colorfully lysergic landscapes that evoke both an emotional response and the feeling that your stranded in the middle of frozen-over arctic tundra. “Gospel-like mirages” is one great way to illustrate the sounds that are discovered in this hidden gem as you’re continually lost in the chilling yet hazy wasteland. Each track sounds like it’s own purely secluded sanctuary, riddled with perpetual floating ambiance to give everything an airy, frothy texture. Tracks like “Deep Rivers” literally sound like they are calmly breathing beneath the glowing complexion that swirls and shimmers.

Songs tend to be repetitive and loop-heavy, yet there are still other elements that work themselves into the structure to keep things from going stale. For example, the glowing leads of the mysterious “Nightmare Beach,” as well as the sound of rustling waves washing up on the beach towards the end. Other tracks like “Gemini” and “Paranormal Experience” seem to follow a similar pattern with their blinking light textures, to the point where “Paranormal Experience” sounds like you’re drifting through the cosmos. “Eternal Rhythms” alters that flow of the previous three tracks, creating a much more strung out and puzzling version of everything prior.

It proves difficult to not be totally immersed by these dazzling songs, bringing you to a level where you will find yourself constantly distracted by such curiously vivid sounds. This album will wrap you up tight in its chilling cocoon of ambiance and once that happens it will be too late. Considering we haven’t heard a record like this all year, “Tourism” certainly stands out for its haunting uniqueness.

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