Elskavon

Perhaps to its perennial advantage, the ambient instrumental project Elskavon was not born on any specific date, but rather organically as an aspiration of 25-year old Minneapolis native Chris Bartels sometime as early as 2007. Over the course of five years, Elskavon was most often a low priority, albeit never forgotten. Intertwined with, and most assuredley inspired by, the many seasons of life he experienced - separate musical ventures, school, traveling, getting married - Chris composed and recorded a fairly ample collection of Elskavon songs over these five years. Created in his bedroom on late nights, these songs were often an escape from the steady quarrel of life. They, in turn, would be only demos, but planted the seeds for a future album.

It was not until the early fall of 2012 that Elskavon finally became a real priority. Rather than attempt to resurrect and refine aged and scattered material, Chris started from scratch, writing and recording a full length album in the matter of a few weeks. It was a passionate pursuit to invoke that feeling of peaceful escape that drove the inception of Elskavon’s debut Movements In Season.

The album fuses acoustic instruments with electronic elements to create a bond of sonic landscapes and formed songwriting. Chris recorded piano, acoustic and electric guitar layers, samplers, synthesizers, and more. He also experimented with implementing everday items and utilities, such as a pack of batteries, a bag of rice, or the sound of a running sink. Mixing all this with careful yet aggressive use of dynamics, delays, and filters, Movements In Season fashions a sensation of peaceful intensity. It was Chris’ interest for classical pieces with captivating twists of modernism and minimalism that kept the project of Elskavon alive over the years, and a love for soaking sonic ambience that most intently drove the creation and conclusion of the album. The hope was that Movements In Season would drench the listener in wonderment, peace, and occasionally, when everything falls into place just right, a gentle sense of awe.