Ramallah/Vienna based Asifeh Steps Further Away from Beatmaking with his Second Ambient Release of the year - 2003.

Stepping away from the corrugated, heavily distorted ambient tones that punctuated moments on his critically acclaimed 2017 album Datura, and formed the basis of his September 2020 EP Hideout, this latest release from Asifeh is a far more introspective exploration that kicks off with surging, reverberating arpeggios on ‘ride into the haze’.

With a runtime of around 13 minutes, 2003 presents a series of “recordings lost in time,” conveying a somber tone that leans less towards ambient grit and more towards vaporwave nostalgia, with thick analog bass tones and soft, delay-soaked leads, heard most prominently on the tracks ‘wrote in x’ and the closer ‘hood’. 

Despite going through a definite change of direction from the sound of previous projects, it’s refreshing to see Asifeh stray further into ambient territory on 2003 and it’s predecessor Hideout which, in light of Asifeh’s previous works, and noteworthy appearance on Grief Into Rage, are clearly intentional explorations of a new sonic direction.