Chasyng Drakens, by Ozbolt

Chasyng Drakens by Ozbolt, released 19 April 2025 1. Yielbongura 2. Humility Point 3. Mysteries Of The Fynbos 4. Harkerville Coastal Trail 5. The Battle Cave Biltong Robbery 6. Peace, Rain, Prosperity 7. Deja Vu Ozbolt is the moniker of Germany-based artist Andy Ozbolt, who also records as Andy Aquarius. Andy’s music has appeared on labels such as Hush Hush, Constellation Tatsu, 7k! and Shimmering Moods to name but a few. His work as Andy Aquarius tends to focus on his Celtic Harp compositions whereas Ozbolt is a tribute to his Croatian heritage, capturing the essence of external landscapes and offering sonic reflections of specific places in time. In an album shaped by adventure, wonder, and the ineffable essence of lived experience, here Andy presents us with his Whitelabrecs debut Chasyng Drakens. This latest work stems from a transformative journey through the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa, blending the organic textures of field recordings with the ethereal resonance of the Celtic harp. The album’s origins trace back to a chance experiment—setting up a rental harp in a coastal tree to let the wind play its strings. The resulting tones were so captivating that Andy sought to preserve them, leading to the spontaneous collection of field recordings throughout his travels. Upon returning to Berlin, these atmospheric recordings became the foundation for Chasyng Drakens, inspiring a flurry of creativity that saw most of the album come together in just two weeks. Layers of harp, from muted plucks to synthesized tones, intertwine with analog synths, rhythmic samples, and contributions from South African musicians on saxophone, flute and voice. At its heart, Chasyng Drakens is a time capsule, as an attempt to translate the profound solitude and discovery of solo travel into an immersive sonic tapestry. While each track stands alone, the unifying presence of field recordings pulls them into a singular, cohesive world, evoking the shifting landscapes and fleeting moments of Andy’s journey. This album serves both to document space and time, and as an invitation to open up a portal into the wonder of the unknown, and get a sense of the place and circumstance it was made. Ozbolt has captured here the raw joy of exploration, weaving sound and memory into a musical map of an extraordinary adventure, complete with photography captured on the trip. The rest of the story is for our own imagination.