INTRO

From interstellar musings to harnessing the sounds of the sea, Amplifier’s frontman has come back down to Earth with three atmospheric soundscapes. He reveals why he’s going with the flow on his ocean-inspired solo album.

Words: Grant Moon Portrait: AOK

Sel Balamir’s passion for windsurfing has helped keep him sane during these strangest of times, and has also led directly to his new solo record, Swell, which features three evocative, seainspired soundscapes. Here the Amplifier man gives us the background to the music’s natural tempos and ocean-bound textures, updates us on the state of play with his bandmate, drummer Matt Brobin, and also reflects on the passing of the years.

Swell’s very you, but shows off a different side, perhaps?

Yeah, I think so. I haven’t had Matt [Brobin, Amplifier’s drummer] to play with so I’ve kind of been by myself, doing things I wouldn’t normally do. I really enjoyed it though, it’s been pretty cathartic, especially with last year being so horrible. If anything this record is about the sense of space, the sense of yearning for something over the horizon. In my experience of the human experience that’s a through line. It’s one of the reasons people do music in the first place, to explore that area. The ocean is just a metaphor for that feeling.