LP – Limited Edition with 12\’\’ Lyric Insert. Pressed on high quality black BioVinyl at Optimal in Germany for maximum sound quality. Housed in printed sleeve, and packed in resealable protective sleeve. Gondwana Records is delighted to announce still, there is the sea the debut album from Canadian composer and singer Ambre Ciel. Ambre Ciel is a composer, violinist, pianist and singer who hails from Montreal, Canada and is a purveyor of dreamy, expansive, spacious pop music that draws influence from the contemporary classical influenced artists such as Agnes Obel, Patrick Watson, Sufjan Stevens and Thom Yorke. As well as the impressionist world of Debussy and American minimalists such as Phillip Glass and Steve Reich and in addition mentions music that breathes from such artists as Gya Valtsdttir, JFDR, or the collaborative work of Jnsi and Alex Somers. Ambre who sings in both her native French and English hails from a family of singers and artists, I started my journey learning violin at six and began experimenting with pedal effects and looping melodies later on. University followed with a focus on composition and recording. Thats when I started exploring composing and songwriting more deeplyboth the world of sounds in itself and songs built mostly with layers of violin and voice. It was also during this time that I returned to my first instrument, the piano, which opened more harmonic possibilities. For Ambre, her debut album still, there is the sea, represents a beginning, a first and she says imperfect attempt to create this other world that was living in her mind. She has crafted a beautifully refined pop album making a lot of space for strings arrangements and other acoustic instruments, as well as her own beautiful voice. On a personal level, I was searching for silence. I had just finally moved to a quiet apartment in Montreal and for the first time, I had all the time and space to hear silence and create, being solitary and living in the intangible world of possibilities. The enigmatic title of the album, still, there is the sea, came to Ambre when she realised that water was a subconscious but recurring theme throughout the album in terms of melodies and lyrics: eau miroir refers to how the water can be some kind of mirror, cycle embodies a cyclical, perpetual movement, atlantis refers to this inward looking quest and distancing from the world, sometimes has sounds from rain and storm, and refers to a storm happening inside someones thoughts. The water element can be very thin, fragile, but its always in movement and can resemble a larger and massive current, expansive, and I wanted to move between instrumental and song with this fluidity and was interested in finding ways to create something that could still feel cohesive. It also reflects this entire season of solitude and silence, how to me creating music represents this access to an underworld closer to the realm of dreams, that can be deep, surreal, rich and very grounding too. While still, there is the sea is very much Ambres own personal statement and artistic vision as a composer, arranger and producer, Pietro Amato, a member of Bell Orchestre and The Luyas and a french horn player for Patrick Watson and Arcade Fire, offered support and experience (and an extra pair of ears) as co-producer and Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy, Arcade Fire) gave assistance with the orchestral arrangements Ambre wrote for the FAMES Skopje Studio Orchestra conducted by Sasho Tatarchevski. And deeply sensitive musicians such as percussionist Stefan Schneider (Bell Orchestre, The Luyas), clarinettist Guillaume Bourque and a string trio made of Marilou Lepage, Sebastian Gonzalez Mora and Julien Siino all brought their unique voices to the record. This then is still, there is the sea the debut album from Canadian composer and singer Ambre Ciel, at once dreamy, spacious, self-contained, fragile, mysterious but open and honest and were delighted to share this gift with the world and invite you to join this wonderful artist on the first steps of her artistic journey. Pressed on high quality black BioVinyl at Optimal in Germany for maximum sound quality. Tracklist: A1. the sun, the sky A2. eau miroir A3. cycleA4. atlantis B1. dream / mirage B2. sometimesB3. pice no.8B4. fragment of