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Steve Roach — The Current Above - Immersion Seven
(Projekt PRO430, 2026, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-09-12

The Current Above - Immersion Seven Cover art

The Current Above is the latest chapter of Roach’s Immersion series, and joins the six before it (the previous being Immersion Six – The Surface Below from earlier this year) in providing a minimalist oasis for low-volume listening, freeing the mind to wander, supporting other endeavors like reading, meditation, sleeping, dreaming, and other creative purposes. The varied sound patterns roll like soft waves, gently soothing the mind as it roams the universe, each layer finding its own cyclical rate of repetition, and while that rate varies for each stratum of the sonic spectrum, the effect on the overall consciousness of the listener. If one finds their eyelids getting heavy after just a few minutes in, don’t be concerned — that’s the desired effect, and one could take any ten-minute sample out of this single 76-minute track and be assured that the remainder would pretty much have the same result. There are sweeping low rumbles at the bottom end of the spectrum, and soaring colorful drifts at the upper end, and dozens of similar sweeps for all of the layers in between, mostly tones and chords that fade in and fade out in slow motion kaleidoscopic patterns as the piece progresses. Those familiar with Roach’s long-form works, and especially the earlier parts of the Immersion series, will not find anything unusual here; it is in fact an artform that Roach has long mastered, massaging the listeners subconscious states to produce the desirable outcome. If one where to ask me to elucidate the difference between The Current Above and any of the earlier installments of the series, I honestly couldn’t give a reader anything specific other than fundamental similarities and recognition that one has been somewhere on this path before.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Steve Roach

More info
http://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-current-above-immersion-seven

 

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