To mark the 10th anniversary of Gidge's landmark album Autumn Bells on Atomnation, the label has assembled a brand new box-set reissue. This deluxe and expanded edition features a 60-page photo book, poster, the original double album plus a nine-track bonus vinyl with alternative edits and demo tracks from the time, all on transparent wax. The exclusive, limited edition boxset comes first on vinyl only on October 18th including a private digital download link.
Gidge is the Swedish duo of Jonatan Nilsson and Ludvig Stolterman, who has also taken all of the photos in the booklet. As friends since high school, they have a deep connection, a great understanding of one another and a shared love of Nordic woodlands. The spirit of the northeastern forests they grew up around has always coloured their music and lent it an organic, ethereally, otherworldly edge that conveys feelings of inner peace.
Their brilliant debut album Autumn Bells captured all that in nine accomplished tracks that picked up critical praise from the music media and millions of online streams. More importantly, it also won them a dedicated fan base who appreciate the art of Gidge's craft and the sensitivity of their sound. Despite the early success of the album and the three more that have followed since, this humble pair have chosen to remain low-key. They play only a few shows a year and consciously haven't chased wider commercial acclaim.
Autumn Bells is ambient electronic music that makes the heart and soul dance. It's a profound emotional journey of delicate sound design but impactful feelings. Mysterious soundscapes are infused with shimmering tones, indecipherable vocal spirits, gorgeous synth drones, shakers, wood blocks and neo-classical ideas that are deeply immersive and always beautiful whether beatless or woven into supple rhythms.
Many tracks were made during the recording process but not all made the final album. Some can now be heard on the bonus disc including the beautifully lonely 'Untitled Piano', or the found sounds of 'MONO-000' which capture a wander through a wood before turning into a heartfelt neo-classical piano piece. There are demo versions of the mystic broken rhythm 'Opal' and lo-fi lullaby 'Once' plus the distant acoustic charms found throughout the album. On top of that, a 2024 version of 'Dusk' has a darker mood and 'Rest' (Other Version) has a more percussive and prominent rhythm while 'You', 'Growth' and 'I Fell In Love' also get reworked with more defined drums but retain their ghostly allure.
To celebrate their 10th anniversary, Gidge also head out on the road to play some of their carefully selected live dates in London, Copenhagen, Aarau, Fribourg, Berlin, Stockholm, Oslo, Barcelona and Amsterdam. Tickets for those shows are on sale here