Canadian ambient composer Alaskan Tapes has joined forces with Portland-based artist Blu Miles for Blank Slate, Open Space, a seven-track collaborative album that explores intimacy, distance, and creative connection through immersive ambient composition. Led by the meditative single “In-Cloud” featuring multi-instrumentalist Ann Annie, the record arrives as a quietly affecting addition to the modern ambient landscape.
What began as a simple exchange of piano and saxophone ideas gradually evolved into a fully realised collaborative project spanning more than 4,000 kilometres. The pair worked remotely for much of the album’s creation, sharing stems and developing tracks piece by piece before eventually completing the record together in Toronto. Despite the geographical distance that shaped its process, the album itself feels remarkably unified, blurring the line between moments created apart and those formed side by side.
At the centre of the release is “In-Cloud”, a serene and weightless composition that expands the album’s sonic palette through layers of piano, saxophone, guitar, and clarinet. Built initially from a set of piano stems, the track slowly transformed through a series of subtle additions, with stretched guitar textures and pulsing woodwind arrangements creating an atmosphere that feels both organic and dreamlike. The result is a piece that moves with a natural ebb and flow, dissolving gently as it unfolds.
Across its twenty-minute runtime, Blank Slate, Open Space plays like a collection of fleeting memories or snapshots from a shared creative environment. Tracks such as the delicate reinterpretation of “Oversky”, originally by Luke Howard and Nadje Noordhuis, and the cinematic “Rosewood” demonstrate the duo’s ability to move between stillness and emotional swell without disrupting the album’s carefully sustained atmosphere.
The project embraces openness and instinct over rigid structure, offering music that encourages reflection rather than demanding attention. Through the interplay of keys and reed instruments, the album creates a calming sense of space that invites listeners to slow down and settle into the moment.
Both artists bring significant acclaim to the collaboration, with previous support from BBC Radio 3, CBC Afterdark, Apple Music playlists including Lowkey and Power Nap, and more than 60 million Spotify streams between them. Together, Alaskan Tapes and Blu Miles have crafted a work that feels timeless, understated, and deeply human.
