Ethereal Essence

BY cornelius

Album Released 6/26/24

A shift in direction from his famed alternative pop style to a more ambient and abstract approach, Ethereal Essence marks Cornelius’ first full-length album since the critically acclaimed Dream in Dream (2023), and Mellow Waves (2017).

The album is a collection consisting of brand new tracks such as ‘Xanadu’, ‘Step Into Exovera’ and ‘Mind Matrix’. Additionally, the album features rarities that were never before officially released including “Thatness And Thereness,” a Cornelius Remodel from “A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto” and “Windmills Of My Mind” which is from the tenth Anniversary Commemoration Edition of Nero Magazine’s 7-Inch vinyl. Another exclusive treat is “Melting Moment” a rearrangement of the version included in the fifth edition cassette tape of “BYSAKUU” and ‘Koko’ which was created for Shuntaro Tanikawa’s exhibition in 2018 and is  released here for the first time for the first time.

Cornelius has been a fan of ambient music his whole life and includes Raymond Scott’s Soothing Sounds for Baby, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Music for Nine Postcards, Jonny Nash’s Exit Strategies, The Sweet Enough’s Marshmallow, and Steve Hiett’s Down on the Road by the Beach among his favorite ambient albums of all time. 

On the lead single ‘Sketch For Spring’ Cornelius says,  “This song was written for the background music in the tube of PARCO, a cultural complex in Shibuya. The title is a tribute to my favorite guitarist Vini Reilly [of British post-punk band Durutti Column].” 

While “Too Much Love for Sauna (Falling Deep)” unfurls like a fractal melody from an otherworldly music box, layering delicate tones and textures organically, enveloping audiences in a sublime experience.  “This song was written for the TV drama, SADO, and has been used as the opening theme since 2019,” Cornelius says. “In the past few years, there has been an unprecedented sauna boom in Japan, and the original manga was the spark that ignited it. I was a fan of the artist and decided to take charge of the project. The single we are distributing this time is a newly arranged version that expresses the psychedelic ecstasy of the sauna more deeply.”