There’s something unshakably honest about ALIVE, the seventh full-length album from Toronto’s John Puchiele Ensemble. It doesn’t beg for attention or over-explain itself. Instead, it lets its presence settle in slowly—ambient, orchestral, and deeply personal.
The album unfolds like a quiet conversation between strength and vulnerability. Some of the compositions are scored, while others lean on looping and layering. But none of it feels rigid. There’s a human touch in every note, which makes sense once you learn that all the music was physically performed with minimal sequencing. That balance between structure and spontaneity gives the record its shape.
Drawing from artists like Steve Reich, Robert Fripp, and Vangelis, the music explores minimalist terrain without being cold or distant. It lives in the space between classical formality and ambient atmosphere. Tracks like “Alive” and “Are You Awake” set the emotional tone, acting as anchors in what feels like a personal timeline told without words.
This is music made during a year marked by illness and recovery—specifically John Puchiele’s experience with cancer—and it’s clear the process of making it was as important as the result. It’s not dramatic or self-indulgent. It just exists with clarity and intention.
Recorded at Acme Recording Studios and mastered at Modal Mastering, the album keeps the production clean but never clinical. It doesn’t try to shout its significance, and that’s exactly what gives it power.
The result is an ambient orchestral album that doesn’t fit easily into any one category, which is part of its quiet strength. If you give it time, it gives back.
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