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Ambient: Bålsam - Soul Offerings (2019)



82 / 100
If Flora y Fauna is the sound of vegetation and parenthood celebration, Soul Offerings is its spiritual predecessor; the breath of the forest.
Let’s step back half a year before the COVID pandemic began — exactly one year before Bålsam celebrated his daughter’s birth with the release of Flora y Fauna. On October 10, 2019, this ambient project released Soul Offerings as a manifestation of the mother earth’s natural whispers.

The sonic components here can be seen as the foundation for the next album, differing mainly in their tonal depth. The ambient textures in Soul Offerings are deeper, more minimal, and without a clear sense of front or back. Similar, yet distinct.

As the journey begins with birdsong and the flow of a river, “Amazon Winter” freezes the forest air and signals a darker phase through its drift toward dark ambient. Night falls. Time moves on as “Wind Water” portrays the quiet side of silence itself—requiring listeners to raise the volume to truly perceive it. Rain descends in “Zapatoca Cave,” forcing us to take shelter while hearing the low murmurs of moss in “Purple Moss.”

“Spirit Journey” introduces reversed audio effects that evoke a transcendent sensation at a relatively normal volume level. The piano chimes on “River Dream” invite the eyes to close, drawing the listener into a meditative state where even a heartbeat seems audible. The tracks following “Under the Araucaria” dissolve the ambient field into subtle field recordings, ending with comfort and warmth in “Beautiful Home” and “By the Fire.”

Perhaps it sounds overly dramatic or narrative, but the point is that Soul Offerings is such a natural journey and no less beautiful than Flora y Fauna. I thought I would experience the same sense of fatigue as before, but apparently not. Maybe it’s because I focused on a slightly different reviewing tone this time. Naturally, this album is highly recommended for anyone seeking immersive relaxation music and one I’d gladly add to a personal favorites playlist.
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