Reviews 403: Saine
A few months back, I checked in with Special Species Records and the ambient techno mysteries of Bohdan’s Originem. In the time since, the label put out a second release on their Vanishing Species series of short-form lathe cuts (Koto City by Sxnctuary), and also instituted a new sub-label called In Situ Species, which focuses on reissues, and which kicked off with AL-90’s SCR from 2014.
After all of this, Special Species returned to their main release progression with a work of quiet contemplation and naturalistic beauty produced by Saine. The artist's There Will Be Signs LP involves a minimalistic yet moving sound palate of Rhodes piano, Korg polysix, trumpet, and a traditional Finnish string instrument called a kantele, which are all used to craft subdued, serene, and softly majestic structures of ambient jazz and pastoral new age.
The sounds evoke autumn leaves and golden grasses rustling in a cool cleansing wind, brooks babbling through flower fields and dense forest growth, meadows re-awakening from spontaneous sunshowers, waves crashing under unchanging skies of grey, and the quiet calm following the first breaths of a fresh snow, with ever-present birdsong contributing subdued shades of living warmth.
To add a further layer of experiential enhancement, Saine and Special Species have also included a mixtape titled Special Pieces for Special Species, which finds the producer and sound artist compiling an all vinyl flow comprised of influences and inspirations that inform There Will Be Signs. It’s a careful and considered dreamglide through astral jazz ambiance, soul-soothing new age, and touches of world music exotica, taking in quite a few artists that are new to me, as well as favorites such as Jack J, Lonnie Liston Smith, Fripp & Eno, Jimi Tenor, Nala Sinephro, and Herbie Hancock.
Saine - There Will Be Signs (Special Species Records, 2026) In “Kaolin,” the kantele evokes dust motes floating in a golden rays of sunlight, its sounds backed by smoldering embers of Rhodes chords and gently burning bodies of resonance. Serene circulations of melody create the feeling of a lullaby dance…giving a sort of lilting sense of ebb and flow, while the chiming Finnish folk strings bring textures reminiscent of Laraaji. And in the background, swelling pads waver against the rest of the flowing motions. “Cloud City” follows with its smearing Rhodes spells bringing out warming tones of cinematic Euro jazz…the vibe windswept and romantic…wistful and forlorn. Faint accents of ambience move in the distance, and echos are caught in stasis, which creates haunted hazes of pitch-shifting modulation and cascading ripples of overlapping feedback. At the end of the A-side sits “Wonder” and its descending keyboard patterns, glassy e-piano arps, and organ chords singing to a melancholic sky. Spacey brass pads are overlaid onto the scene, and everything comes together like some dreary and downer merging of Spaghetti Western score and cozy ECM jazz exploration, moving through expansive and empty desert landscapes, with skyscapes aglow and shooting stars zooming across dancing constellations. And above it all, a conversation proceeds between slow motion Morricone organ melancholics and wandering and wide-eyed fusion synthesis.
The B-side begins with “Initiation” and its liquid laced e-piano chords in a gentle landscape of sci-fi and fourth world wonderment. The background is quietly suffused with pulses, breaths, and golden tonal decays, as humming harmonics and screaming serenities support a gorgeous sun-soaked mantra of blurring and blissed out piano playing. The keyboard tones are physical and dynamic…sounding as if gemstones and crystals are dropping into lightpools of liquified radiance…with lower notes creating purling puddles of subsonic warmth. And all the while, looping pads flutter across the mix like clouds blown on a breeze, their progressions drunken, dreamy, and increasingly intense. “Sands” is next and opens on oscillating hums, waves crashing, and keys like quivering crystals, which sets the stage for the kantele’s re-emergance….its shining string vibrations swimming through the stereo field with dazzkubg motions like silvery schools of fish reflecting myriad colors in an undersea paradise. What follows is a shadowy drama at play, as stretches of silence and droning delirium are punctuated by dramatic displays of melodic interplay, wherein smearing runs down the keyboard work in counterpoint to methodical chord climbs that exude a smokey jazz flare. To my mind, the whole thing gives strong evocations of Iury Lech, especially the kind of stuff on Música para el fin de los cantos. The LP ends with “The Calling” and e-piano arps and wondrous webs of kantele weaving directly into the resonant fibers of the spiritual self. A trumpet blows a mesmeric ritual of folk-jazz across rural landscapes of old world magic, and textural folds of droning bass surrounding everything while flora and fauna samples create further feelings of imaginative immersion. Pensive pads billow out beneath it all…these soft strokes of pitch-wheel modulation that puff outward like smoke. And eventually, everything fades away into a natural panorama of birdsong.
Saine - Special Pieces for Special Species (Special Species Records, 2026) The A-side of Special Pieces for Special Species is layered throughout with conversant dialog and cosmic background radiation, as harmonious oscillations create the foundation for swelling pads and warming colorations. Galactic hums and sweltering squelches spread out into a peace-inducing soundbath, time-lag accumulations beam in from faraway star systems, and orchestral strings wash the spirit clean with restorative tones of rural magic as a voice speaks over childhood babbles and blowing wind. Folk symphonics transition into windborne string synths, as primordial breaths blow on the breeze…their sounds panning amidst birdsong and field recordings, while soft synthetic accents circulate. Subdued echo sequencers sit beneath narrations while their tones are sanded of all hard edges, and space engine energy bursts decay into an empty void. Smoldering smears of bouncing chord echos morph under chaos clouds of smoke and fire before cinematic samples and blurring colorforms drape over lofi cascades of crystalline melody. Clicks, cuts and glitches create rhythmic shadowspells while wavering tones and quivering drones accent a display of purring saxophone sensuality…its slowly snaking motions matched by cooling keys while jazz drums slowly unfold from the misty darkness. Hints of golden radiance push through and feminine voices speak poetry over smoke-shrouded noir brass and watery mirage synths, like a filmic spy movie monologue from a forgotten femme fatale. After dipping into Saine’s own “The Calling,” there are mellotronic movements and rustic string plucks flying freely in a dream dance of new age fantasy, with experimental jazz flourishes filtering in via exploratory synth solos that journey towards the sky. Then, following all of this, the side ends on a scenic display of birdsong.
Over the B-side, avant-garde galactic abstractions and sci-fi cinematic motions join together beneath solitary saxophonic song, with refracting key clusters climbing and shimmering percussive metals aglow. Brass sections swell and swelter over fantasy harp formations, creating a world of watery warmth and faded rainbow colorations…of filmic symphonic swooning from some lost golden era of Hollywood classicism, romance, and nostalgia. Warming and enveloping drones form from bass key resonance, and high notes sparkle like tide pool crystals in the setting sun, while the horns soar ever higher, and ever deeper into realms of seaside noir serenity, with everything eventually blissing out into a more ambient environment. Didgeridoos and placid guitar conversations intertwine while the background moves like a slow motion whirlpool of heavy-lidded drone, and a contemplative voice speaks overhead, adding to the aura of restorative energy and restful new age magic. Badalmenti bass pulses drop into the purling pool of musical mist, and amorphous guitar shadows are structured from slide and soft delay…these smoked out blues leads gliding over throbs of subearthen bass that give way to music box chimes, with tones warbling and wavering…as if heard in a half-remembered dream. Cozy and caressing chord progressions on electric piano bring further evocations of Badalamenti, Lynch, and Twin Peaks that then fracture into an avant-garde display of ambient jazz, with an atmospheric aura that is deeply sensual, and further enhanced by breath-based sax tones sitting over smearing bells and aquatic theremin vocalizations. Elsewhere, universal energy drones transmute through gently smoldering distortion while rustic psych solos ride cymbal shimmer and organ glimmer. Contrabass astrally ambulates through empty space…backed by Spanish folk guitar flourishes…and darkly enchanting woodwinds wind their way like snaking smoke patterns against a twilit sky, which pushes everything towards Morricone western exotica. Then comes a transition into old world wind instrumentalism with an almost whimsical vocal character, and plucked string ceremonials add a touch of temple mysticism...like some ritualistic and arcane world music from faraway in the East. And as the final moments approach, the mix gives away again to singing birds.
(images from my personal copy)
