Sometimes it feels too good to be true. Erik Kramer got in touch recently to humbly and politely share some new music he’s been working on, the first thing for a number of years. From the first click we were transported away to open prairies and time ground down to a halt. It’s music rooted in simplicity and the great outdoors - unadorned, unembellished and happy to let you stay a little while. Drifting from the opening woozy tape-warbled keyboards to the stripped-bare Shirley Collin indebted ‘Just As The Tide Was Flowing’, it’s clear we’re in the presence of something really special. We’re reminded of Nuno Canavarro’s Plux Quba, the way you’re always inside it but never quite know where you are.

Kramer’s string playing strikes a perfect mood throughout, allowing each piece the space to breath whilst percolating a deep sense of Autumn nostalgia. ‘Rain For The Field’ is one of the best tracks we’ve heard for some time - a civic-hall singalong laced with tin whistle and rising synth notes. It’s easy to imagine Kramer here roping some of his friends in to sing along here, the happy / sad feeling is one of communion and earnest enjoyment. Subtly augmented field-recordings and crusty tape samples tap into the woolly and loveable aesthetic of say The Sprigs, Matthew Sullivan’s scene-setting pieces or any of your favourite NZ lathe micro-editions. Music for the wide open blue sky - a firm favourite of the year.