Chronovalve – Trace Of Light

Comes in a new 4 panel thick card package designed by Christian Roth and Ian Hawgood, in an edition of 500…

Chronovalve is the ambient music project of Mike Engebretson. For those that don’t know the work of this amazing artist, we’ve known him since his (sadly missed) Smallfish days. The connection with Smallfish Records (see Isnaj Dui, bvdub…and really, a huge amount of what we have put out and one of the main sources of inspiration for the label) continues as Chronovalve was a key component of the Smallfish realm. Smallfish was an incredible record store and highly regarded label based in east London. I happened to live right opposite the store for a year. It was here that I gained my real music education into more minimal / ambient work, going daily to the store to see what new music they had on offer.

After Smallfish sadly closed its doors a number of years ago, many of the artists on the label went off to release some wonderful work. Perhaps the best known of these would be bvdub, Celer, and Isnaj Dui of course. However, one of my favourite artists from the Smallfish days seemingly went under the radar, and that was Chronovalve. Now, some 5 years after discovering this wonderful artist, and after not releasing anything in that time, Chronovalve is finally back. We are thrilled that we are able to carry on the Smallfish torch, even if it is in a small way. His work has always been wonderfully melodic and textured, but ‘Trace of Light’ develops further with its choral tone, and haunting (even angelic) melodies and structures. It may well have taken its time to get here, but we are so glad that it finally has.