The Canadian electronic/ambient project completes its Sequence trilogy in a dreamy psychedelic fashion
Release date: September 25, 2026 | Constellation Records | Bandcamp | Instagram
Since my teenage years, I have always preferred to be engaged with the busier structures of rock/metal music, believing that ambient is a genre where nothing really happens. Of course, the only thing I needed was that magic touch of maturity: time eventually made me realise that within the ebbs and flows of ambient/electronic music hide some of the most exciting and adventurous soundscapes to be found anywhere – some of the most blissful journeys for the mind too. Nowadays, I feel that complexity is always easy to find, but music that makes you want to raise your eyes to the sky is somehow more rare and precious.
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Light Conductor is the psych-ambient electronic project of Stephen Ramsay (Young Galaxy) and Jace Lasek (The Besnard Lakes). Sequence Three concludes a trilogy of albums that started with Sequence One (2019) and was followed by Sequence Two (2021). As expected, their style remains unchanged for the third part; based almost entirely around a rich arsenal of analogue/vintage synths, Light Conductor’s music is comprised of long synth drones/melodies, wide use of effects, the hallucinatory repetitions of the kosmische tradition and a very persistent space feel – imagine Cluster, Tangerine Dream and the great electronic masters of the 70s but through a more space-rock Spiritualized filter and a subtly modern twist in the song structures.
One thing that differentiates Sequence Three from other works with similar aesthetics is its vibrant flow: it’s obvious from the opener “She Glitters The Dust” that the band uses typical “song” parts – there is an intro, a main verse, a soft rhythmic beat and the delicately saturated finale – instead of still soundscapes. There is a sense of movement and elasticity within the music, the right amount of action to keep the listener more easily engaged. Somehow expanding this approach, “Omenize” features multiple vocal layers from frequent collaborator Olga Goreas, bringing a very light, major-feel, almost new-age aura to the composition. I am not a big fan of this specific direction but the track serves the whole well.
Nevertheless, as the album progresses, it enters more standard 70s progressive electronic ground: “Ghost City Radio” – a personal favourite of mine – is slipping towards a slightly darker state, drowsing in its soft beats, jazzy chords, bass riffs, and spoken word samples. This composition and “High In The Orange Air” that follows are the moments that carry more of that vintage feel, that meditative and therapeutic effect of the good old Berlin School legacy. The textures here are rich, atmospheric, and a bit abstract. And it all leads to “Supercontinent”, a 15-minute epic composition that’s rhythmic, repetitive, dense in sound, and heavy in nature. This is a massive jam that feels like Earth’s gravity pulls you down after a long flight through the aether.
It’s a boring stereotype to call an album “a trip”, but some albums are specifically designed to feel like one. Without any doubt, this is Sequence Three’s intention: to take you on a far journey for the mind through fantastical dimensions, secret geometries, and unexplored spaces. The synthwork manages to imitate this route from openness to density – from the borders of the cosmos to Earth – and the sparse grooves offer gentle support. Generally, this is a light listen; not too dark or dramatic. Not ideal for multiple spins but excellent for a few selected moments when you want to feel weightless.
Light Conductor complete their first creative cycle as a band with a trilogy that has been consistent from day one. The final part, Sequence Three, is a dreamy and psychedelic little gem that promises to soar with you into imaginative places, if you will. Clever in its architecture and serene in its spirit, it’s an album to accompany moments when consciousness yearns to expand. It will be interesting to see what’s next for this project but, I bet, it will somehow make us raise our eyes to the skies again.
Artist photo by Giles Ramsay
