Electronic Musician Sverre Knut Johansen's STILL TIME: Environmentally-Inspired Imaginative and Hopeful Music

Joining the music of Norwegian Composer Sverre Knut Johansen and the Wildlife Photography of Solly Levi, STILL TIME is available today on Spotted Peccary Music.

PORTLAND, OR, USA, June 21, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Still Time is the new Spotted Peccary release from Norwegian ambient electronic artist Sverre Knut Johansen, offering a departure from the cosmic themes of his prior work to an earthbound one: animal extinctions affected by climate change. With this latest work, the veteran composer blends traditional instrumentation and ambient vocalizations with the spacious textures that defined his previous work to capture both the beauty of the natural world and the urgency of its threat. A serene video supports the album.

Still Time is available digitally on your platform of choice: https://orcd.co/still-time and at Bandcamp.

In a departure from his musical interest in the space thematic, Johansen gets more grounded with Still Time. He uses human voices throughout the album to represent a warning of extinction, and ties each track to spectacular imagery by African wildlife photographer Solly Levi. The photographs were taken in nature reserves including The Etosha National Park, Namib-Naukluft National Park, and the Masai Mara National Reserve in Namibia and in Kenya.

Joining imagery and sound, the effect is stunning on opener “Massive Extinction,” which begins with a rich and rumbling texture, the sound of wind through a wasteland. Then, a lamenting vocal melody floats over a building dirge of noise—the unstoppable tide of turmoil rising below its heralding hymn, until even that last voice falls silent. Yet the title track “Still Time (Saving Our Planet)” paints a picture of beauty rather than one of devastation. Here, glittering glockenspiels dance over rattles and trills, a quiet scene of insects flitting through a forest clearing, before a cinematic drumbeat erupts with heroic grandeur. And “Rhinoceros on Large Salt Pan” is complex yet serene, its warm chords shimmering like sunlight on sand dunes. Throughout this is a soundtrack of immense consideration and imagination.

“The Desert Elephants of Namibia” features sounds depicting elephants created with the Sequential Prophet X hybrid synthesizer, used like brass over a marching drumline and orchestral trills before the piece climaxes in an accelerando of dissonant strings. Johansen again returns to this synth for realizing the sounds of flamingos on the ethereal “The Golden Flamingo Lake.” The album’s finale “Cheetah’s Realm (At the Masai Mara National Reserve)” captures all the Still Time sounds in one epic seven-minute journey, building from a yearning piano intro into a stunning climax of polyrhythmic drums and desert-wide textures. Then, the piano refrain returns to beckon one final climax—a subtle IDM beat anchoring clattering tribal drums and yearning textures in a gripping harmony.

Still Time is both urgent and hopeful, blending a myriad of organic and inorganic sounds to capture both the beauty of the natural world and the dire imminence of its destruction. But with this sense of urgency, Johansen’s stunning cinematic crescendos come both plea and warning—a call to save our fellow creatures and earth while we still can. Yet even in moments of darkness, Johansen leaves the listener with a sense of hope, imploring us that "there is still time to turn this around.”

Still Time is Sverre’s seventh release on the Spotted Peccary Music Label. His previous releases are Metahuman (SPM-3006), Dreams Beyond (SPM-3005), Precambrian (SPM-3004), The Vast Expanse (SPM-3003), Secret Space Program (SPM-3002), and Earth From Above (SPM-3001).

All of the music has been composed and Produced by Sverre Knut Johansen at Space Center Music Productions in Sandane, Norway in 2022. Mastered by Howard Givens at Spotted Peccary PNW Studios, Still Time is available for streaming and downloading, including high resolution studio master formats. The powerful photography of Solly Levi is presented in engaging graphic design by Daniel Pipitone, Spotted Peccary Studios NE, and video production by Joe Abreau.

Spotted Peccary hosted a Bandcamp Listening Party & live chat with Sverre Knut Johansen on June 20, 2024 at 8:00 PM EDT to discuss the new album with fans and media.

Still Time will live stream throughout the day on Spotted Peccary’s 24/7/365 streaming channel SPMLive.

For artist interviews, review copies, or promotional requests, please contact Beth Ann Hilton via beth@spottedpeccary.com

Tracklist:
1 Massive Extinction 09:18
2 Still Time (Saving Our Planet) 05:18
3 Rhinoceros On Large Salt Pan 06:46
4 Storm Is Coming (Walvis Bay) 09:53
5 White Clouds Above Giraffe 08:07
6 Dead Vlei - The Most Beautiful Dead Place On Earth 06:36
7 Oryx In Yellow Light 06:11
8 The Desert Elephants Of Namibia 04:07
9 The Golden Flamingo Lake 09:14
10 A Cheetah's Realm (At The Masai Mara National Reserve) 07:22

Links:
Music Smartlink: https://orcd.co/still-time
Spotted Peccary Album Page: https://spottedpeccary.com/shop/still-time/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sverreknutjohansen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555521401691

About Sverre Knut Johansen:
Norwegian electronic artist / composer Sverre Knut Johansen (pronounced Svá-da Ka-núte Yo-hán-sen) hails from Mo i Rana, a lesser-known town in the northern-central Helgeland region of Norway, just below the arctic circle. He has composed electronic works since the early 1990’s, developing a strong signature style through the use of melody and form often thought of as a classically-influenced, electronic symphonic compositions. He has previously released material on Origo Sound and his own Origin Music, and has collaborated with artists including Erik Wøllo, David Helpling, and Robert Rich.

About Spotted Peccary Music:
Portland-based Spotted Peccary Music is North America’s finest independent record label with a focus on deep, vast and introspective soundscapes. For over three decades, the artists of Spotted Peccary have been on a mission to develop, produce, publish and release ultra-high-quality, deep-listening experiences that engage the listener and exceed expectations. Every release is carefully prepared in a variety of high-quality formats from MP3 to high-res studio masters. In 2023, they were named Best Independent Record Label by the HIMAwards. Explore more than 200 titles and 50 artists released over 38 years of excellence at www.SpottedPeccary.com and www.AmbientElectronic.com

Beth Hilton
Spotted Peccary Music
+1 310-560-8390
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
X
Instagram
YouTube

Still Time is both urgent and hopeful.