Today, iconic electronic producer and artist Eric Hilton releases what may be his most personal album, Out Of The Blur (Montserrat House/emeraldwave by Green Hill). For nearly 30 years, the prolific creative and co-founder of the globally successful downtempo group Thievery Corporation has been known for his wildly eclectic, trendsetting downtempo sensibility. His latest release represents a fresh chapter in his artistic continuum. It’s his first ever full-length album of ambient music, and it was written and recorded during a time of tumult and transcendence.
Out Of The Blur’s genesis is a confluence of painfully complex life changes, including the passing of Hilton’s dear friend and engineer from a drug overdose at the same time Hilton decided to embrace sobriety.
“This music was born from profound loss and deep clarity,” Hilton shares.
“I don’t have a background in making ambient music, but there’s something about its inherent ambiguity that I found therapeutic and soothing during a transformative time.”
Hilton’s ability to masterfully alchemize disparate musical genres has been emblematic of his work in Thievery Corporation. But Out Of The Blur showcases a more reductive compositional approach. It offers forth an immersive landscape replete with softly percussive synthesizer rhythms, weightless drones, reverberant textures, and sublime melodic motifs. The album exudes ambient music’s familiar calmness, but there are also moments on Out Of The Blur that instill a sense of swelling hope.
One standout track is “Vessel,” a shimmering aural blur of pastel melodies, subtle emotive dynamics, and sparse pulsating beats. “That song is about the act of making music—sometimes it feels like the music already exists, and you’re just pulling it out of the ether, like you are just a vessel for it,” Hilton says.
Despite ambient being a new sonic sandbox for Hilton, he brings his sharp production acumen to the album, making it that rare ambient record that rewards both passive and attentive listening.
Out Of The Blur will be released on emeraldwave by Green Hill, which specializes in healing music. The label’s mission is perfectly aligned with Hilton’s artistic intention for the album. “I truly believe in the healing power of music,” Hilton says. “If people use this record as a sonic medication, I think it will make them centered — it will make them feel good.”
“Out of the Blur is an album full of emotion and one that is deeply connected to Eric,” said Blake Davis, GM of Green Hill Music. “Because of that, I believe that fans both new and old will find themselves having a unique bond with the music. We are very honored to be releasing it on emeraldwave by Green Hill and believe it fits perfectly within our mission: “Nurturing the human spirit through sound.”
About Eric Hilton
Eric Hilton is an electronic music pioneer having co-founded the downtempo electronic music act Thievery Corporation. The group helped usher in trip-hop with its intrepid explorations of dub, acid, jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip-hop, and Brazilian music, including bossa nova, among other world music influences. Thievery Corporation has released 10 albums from 1996 until 2020, and Hilton as a solo artist has released seven consistently imaginative albums, including his latest, Out Of The Blur.
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