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It's hard not to use loaded terms to describe the sound of Ultisol's debut record Precession of the Equinox: Americana, Post-Rock, Ambient. Genres that are most often defined by what's taken away, and not what's there, which isn't fair because Ultisol’s vast oceans of sound are framed around Georgia multi-instrumentalist Daniel Lamb’s beautiful guitar compositions. Like an Appalachian Mogwai, or Tim Hecker deconstructing Leo Kottke, Ultisol’s debut finds a new midway point between American fingerpicking and washed-out ambient space.

Daniel Lamb has been making sound as Ultisol since 2021, releasing a handful of tracks on Bandcamp. His early tracks point towards Precession of the Equinox’s mix of ambient desolation and American Primitive melody, a home recordist feeling out space for himself. For his debut, Lamb pulled in Brooklyn producer Dale Eisinger, who found a slew of guests to push deeper into the extraterrestrial beauty of the project. Modular synth, white noise, cello, found sound and heartbreaking pedal steel all wash in and out over the album’s ten tracks, but Precession of the Equinox ultimately succeeds because even when the sonics seem like they might overwhelm, the guitar compositions point upward at an ever-expanding sky.

Lamb's gorgeous Fahey-esque playing anchors every track on Ultisol's debut record, reshaping American folk music as cosmic noise. There's a hint of optimism even in the record’s most desolate sounds, and maybe that is what makes it feel uniquely American — a fleeting moment of aspirational melody hitting the endless, hopeless highway.

By Tyler McCauley

a series of sounds organized in time
original music by Daniel Lamb