Earl Patrick pivots sharply away from his usual indie-folk and guitar-driven comfort zones for his newest release, the wildly inventive album "Conditioned By Machines". The Portland, Oregon-based composer, singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has spent over two decades building a dense, eight-album catalog. Here, however, he entirely flips the script. Feeling that classical flute music too often prioritizes gesture over pure melody, he set out...

First thought? It doesn’t sound like someone trying too hard, which is always a relief. It’s not that self-important throb you sometimes get with ambient. It’s... like catching the first snow after a summer that stretched on way too long. Remember those hazy August days? They feel like distant echoes now, don’t they? https://open.spotify.com/album/1tWE8Gn8bh0iIj8srA29wy?si=wNlwKXSzTNeet5-M87przg This single paints with sonic snow, and the whole picture is soft...