Lawson & Merrill are not financial advisors. But if electroacoustic bliss is what you seek, you would do well to make an appointment with them. They – David Margolin Lawson and David Merrill – met a number of years ago while engineering sessions at the revered CityVox Studios in New York City. They discovered they both had a love for “mid century” electronic music and composers like Morton Subotnick, Eliane Radigue, Edgard Varèse, Ilhan Mimaroğlu, and Steve Reich. It wasn’t until recently, though, that they began to share ideas they had been working on individually which led to this collaboration.

Signals is the result of combining their considerable studio talents and artistry (they are both very well respected recording engineers and sound designers working on theatrical, orchestral, spoken word, film, commercial, and live events projects around the world).

The album features five “sonic sculpture paintings”, started by one of the Davids, expanded and refined by the other in a musical tennis match until both agree the work is done (and a title suggests itself). Each track is unhurried and distinctively gorgeous in its own way. The term ‘ambient’ barely does justice to the evolving stasis and timeless developments. A Day at the Beach may have been first drafted while on Fire Island but it is abstract enough to help inspire your own vivid imaginings of time and place. From A Morning Meditation to Coda, this album charts a ruminative amble through some of the more beautiful places in your mind.

The list of equipment, from modern Moogs and ARPs to vintage analog and modular gems, is put to excellent use on Signals. This is as much a fusion of gentle musical personalities as it is a powerful affirmation of emotionally rich studio art.