Mystical, ethereal lagoons of sound. Unknown Beyond, the third album from New Mexican duo Tan Cologne is the perfect soundtrack to a summer’s afternoon, when the listener is at peace with the world, and the world is at peace with itself
Release Date: 20th June 2025
Label: Labrador Records
Formats: Digital
TAN COLOGNE
Tan Cologne is New Mexico-based duo Lauren Green and Marissa Macias and Unknown Beyond is their 3rd album. It follows the pair’s 2020 debut, Cave Vaults on the Moon in New Mexico and that album’s acclaimed follow-up, 2022’s Earth Visions of Water Space. The latter of these was identified as “…a low-key shoegazer masterpiece” by Electronic Sound magazine and, even more lavishly as “…one of the most influential albums of the year,” by Circuit Sweet.
For Unknown Beyond, Lauren and Marissa have taken an even sharper left-turn than you’d expect, even from a pair with such an unblemished track record for unpredictability. Gone is the Americana sensibility and the lapsteel of their previous work. In their place, the girls have embraced electronics in every element of their production and performance; they’ve even accommodated a drum machine for the very first time. And the result? Nine tracks of blissful ambience. Unknown Beyond is the perfect soundtrack to a summer Sunday afternoon, when nothing else is happening, the listener is at perfect peace with the world, and the world is at peace with itself.
SIGNS AND SIGNALS
And, if the final point of that scenario is asking a little too much, Unknown Beyond will help to convince that peace is at hand, at least for as long as its 29-minute playing time lasts. As the album’s press release explains: “Unknown Beyond seeks a more spiritual process. It’s a cerebral record that echoes and shimmers with realms of the unseen, borderlands and supernatural connection.”
Elaborating upon that point, Lauren and Marissa say: “We looked for signs and signals during the recording process. If we saw a shooting star, imagined a fire burning on a hill, or remembered an old satellite dish in someone’s yard, we explored that lyrically. Those visual guides became our pathways to the album. They were the signs to move forward.”
ETHEREAL TONES; LAGOONS OF SOUND
Mention of the lyrics raises an interesting and unavoidable point. Almost without exception, the lyrics on Unknown Beyond are all but inaudible, but that’s not necessarily the negative aspect that you’d expect. The intent of each song is conveyed by the soundscape and the ethereal tones of the girls’ voices, and the listener is left with the impression that – as long as THEY know what they’re singing about, the words don’t really matter. The messages come across regardless.
The rich, lush soundscapes that pervade Unknown Beyond are there from the outset with opening track, Cool Star. The duo’s vocals – the lyrics apparently report the sighting of a shooting star and express a desire for communication with a world beyond our own – are almost submerged in the lagoon of sound but, as has already been explained, the intent is clear.
LET THE SOUND WASH OVER YOU
You Are the Dreamer is an instrumental track, the title of which was inspired by a sticker in the window of a friend’s car. The band elaborate: “She had recently passed away and her car was sold and then unknowingly used as the getaway car during an arson event at our local ice-skating rink in Taos. The tune feels like a continuation of an odd and mind-bending conversation, and that feels like her.” It’s as dreamy as its title suggests and the sound advice is: Sit back and let the sound wash over you.
And the same advice applies to the equally dreamy Clouds of Mirrors and to the otherworldly Infinity. Sit back and dream as the clouds of serenity drift slowly by…
ANGELS AND INVISIBLE LIFEFORMS
Angels was written whilst the recent LA fires burned and the duo experienced a profound sense of change and loss as spaces they intimately knew, loved and walked were burning. “We imagined and lyrically wrote about both the absence and presence of angels,” they say. And the music is as melancholy, doomful and resigned as its inspiration suggests.
The faster pace of Eyelids comes almost as a surprise. Lauren’s and Marissa’s voices retain their etheric tone and, this time, their lyrics are almost discernable, on a song that is almost sufficiently accessible to be classed as ‘pop.’ The mood of quiet contentment is, however, soon resumed, with Open to Communication, a song that deals with the elusive subject of receiving messages from invisible lifeforms. And, whenever such lifeforms next choose to make their presence known, I hope that they will do so in the same peaceful, contented and reassuring way that is suggested here.
A MASTERCLASS
The delightful Spiral Path leads the listener through a mystical and misty landscape. It’s clear from the music that steps along the path should be taken slowly and with great care – but the music also provides reassurance that there are no dangers lurking, as the duo’s soft voices guide the traveller safely through to the final landing.
We’re told that the lyrics to closing track, In Resin, “…encapsulate the entire album thematically, talking about being everything once, and then being it all again, living several times at the same time.” I’m sure that’s the case, because the music conveys the same message – delivering a sense of finality and of a mission successfully fulfilled. As a lesson in how to say things, without being heard, yet being firmly understood, Unknown Beyond is a masterclass indeed.
Watch the official video to Clouds of Mirrors – a track from the album – below:
Tan Cologne: Official Website / Instagram / Bandcamp
Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / X / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube
Categories: Uncategorised
