Since emerging with his first releases in 2017, Joseph Kamaru AKA KMRU has fast become a key figure in the world of ambient music and its ever shifting definitions. The gargantuan nocturnes of 2020’s Peel on Editions Mego practically catapulted the Nairobian field recorder and versatile producer into view, leading to a prolific stream of works and collaborations across a spectrum of labels. His latest album forge follows in the vein of previous releases for Seil Records, comparatively more pop minded and snapshot like in nature when contextualised in a discography of LP side length explorations and examinations. Yet, no matter the length, melody still percolates through these tracks, patiently dribbling over intertwining notes that liquefy into a sonorous river. The soft rattle of blurry glass tones enters on ‘opener’, with sounds from the outer world leaking in as momentary glitches blip, chirp, and whirr. Sounds like these are gently amplified, muted yet vibrant, thrumming and swooping across active landscapes in playful compositions. Swirling notes of alien birdsong puff and push throughout ‘cine’, joined by fountains of static spewing over long lazing drones. Field recordings and the distorted, fried mbira plucks on tracks like ‘over a placid river’ bring the more earthly tones back into focus, growing blissfully erratic as they plink onwards. As forge merges these sounds in a “blend of melody and noise, rhythm and drone”, it pursues a communion of oscillation, with how