Travel Log 1, the debut EP by New York indie artist Panteon, is a reminder that the world we live in is capable of magical moments. The six tracks present on the record comprise a cohesive whole of dream-like intrigue. The moments and the places that inspired the EP are all very much tangible.
Yvonne Ambrée, the name behind the moniker, curated, wrote, produced, and recorded the effort. While its dreamscape design may inherently lend itself to one’s thought that her first Travel Log was inspired by dreamscape origins, that is simply not the case. Ambrée had much to do with traveling the world and encountering real-life landscapes and experiences that would come to craft the EP, which was recorded in Berlin, Brooklyn, and at the historic Sear Sound (John Lennon, David Bowie) in Manhattan to top it all off.
More-so than even about her titular travels, Travel Log 1 is a collection of life stories on searching for one’s identity from Ambrée. The wispy consciousness of opening tune “January Keeper”, for instance, was written while traversing Prague’s Charles Bridge and was recorded during a period of exile in Berlin. The sweet shadows that she delicately weaves in “Ballyvaughan” are an inspired ode to the Burren in County Clare, Ireland. Album closer, “Hudson”, is of course about her life in New York, and solitary rebellion that’s come along with it.
Speaking of New York, bringing Ambrée’s vision as Panteon to light are consummate musicians from the area. That includes Snarky Puppy’s Jay Jennings, who plays a mean flugelhorn on “Ballyvaughan”, and bassist Grant Zubritsky on “White Jaguar”. Acclaimed Canadian producer Howie Beck (Feist, Chilly Gonzales) helps wrap Panteon’s maiden studio voyage up in a bow with his assistance in mixing the EP.
Travel Log 1 releases on 19 January 2018.