Drømmene (The Dreams in Danish) is the second solo album of Danish experimental sax player Henrik Pultz Melbye (known from the band SVIN), following Frogs // Toads (Insula Jazz, 2024). The new album explores different places where dreams unfold, what emotions they evoke in us, and what they remind us of. Melbye says that «while dreams take place during our sleep, we also often find ourselves daydreaming but often unconsciously, affecting our emotional state». Drømmene attempts to serve as an output for all those intense emotions we experience.

Melbye began to work on Drømmene in 2020 and was inspired by such artists as Brian Eno, Jon Hassel, Harrold Budd, Kate Bush and Jules Reidy. Melbye saxophones and the EWI – Electronic Wind Instrument, a kind of sax synth, via effects and loops. The mix of co-producer Anders Bach transforms Melbye’s music into rich and layered textured, leaving aside all extended techniques.

The music moves between minimalist, meditative and ambient to the more grandiose and dramatic, suggestive cinematic and atmospheric-sci-fi music, but its slow, meditative spirit allows the listener to linger in the sound of emotion. The title piece (and its reprise, «Drømmen igjen»), «Vejen» and «Skoven» bring to mind John Surman’s solo pieces for dance, sculpting texture and atmosphere. «Himlen», «Byen» and «Stranden» offer noisy-industrialist, unsettling soundscapes that may recall nightmarish experiences. The rest of the pieces are ethereal, ambient ones that fill the space with atmospheric sounds, and invite the listener to meditate and dive into their all-embracing sounds.

Drømmene suggests a highly immersive listening experience. It is released in a limited edition of 50 cassette tapes featuring artwork by Dylan Marcus McConnel plus a download option.

Eyal Hareuveni

Henrik Pultz Melbye (saxophones, EWI, effects)