*50 copies limited edition* Listening to Koude's self-titled debut album can feel like floating in still dark water or like crawling slowly through a moonlit forest. It could be any other lonesome surrounding really, a place where it's just you and your body, some senses numbed, other senses heightened. All the while, something undefined seems to be hiding in the dark; something bad or something good.

The subdued music of Koude draws from meandering folk, ambient, slowcore and drone, folding these elements together with a quiet patience that resists easy categorization. In this regard, Michiel Klein, Keimpe Koldijk and Ester Venema are building on their previous collaborations in acts such as Blessum (Vrystaete), Eklin (Night People) and Mike Koldin (Samling). The trio works with electric guitars, bass, synthesizers, sparse percussion and occasional voice.

The reverberating guitars sound muffled, simultaneously close and far away, grounded by slow creeping bass lines and at times softly illuminated by droning keyboards and synthesizers. Two tracks carry vocals, but they are whispered more than sung, difficult to decipher — as if meaning is being deliberately withheld. All we have are song titles like 'Wrong Body of Water' and 'Feral Limbs'.