From the beginning, collaboration has been a hallmark of the music Kevin Imbrechts has produced as Illuminine. Until now, each album has featured other musicians as either ensemble performers or in the role of creating new interpretations and reworks. At the core of it all, however, has always been Imbrechts’ dulcet guitar lines and introspective style of composition, and on his fourth Illuminine record he strips everything down and isolates himself to just these two elements. Baptism of Solitude presents 13 ‘takes’ written, produced, and mixed by Imbrechts in his home studio during the last week of December 2018, a baker’s dozen of musical poems & sketches able to deliquesce even the stoniest of hearts.
Links: Bandcamp (CD/digital) | Illuminine website
These heartfelt pieces constitute a baptism in the secular, abstract sense – an initiatory or purifying experience that is, at some level, transformative. Immersed in the simplicity, sincerity, and sheer unadulterated beauty of these songs created in isolation, we emerge soothed and consoled.
Baptism of Solitude is available both digitally and in a CD edition limited to 200 copies. The album was mastered by Gert Van Hoof (Cochlea Mastering).
Stationary Travels 