Dave Hawley’s “Susurrus” is built around warm ambient textures and a strong sense of natural space. Field recordings remain clearly present, while subtle processed guitar sounds blend into the wider soundscape, used more as texture and sound design than as a conventional guitar performance. Sparse piano notes provide occasional points of focus.
There’s very little conventional rhythm. Instead, sounds drift in and out, with the processed guitar gradually changing shape against the environmental recordings. The arrangement feels patient and open, allowing small changes in tone and texture to do most of the work.
The field recordings are particularly important, keeping the piece connected to its natural surroundings as the more processed elements move around them. Piano and other delicate tonal details appear without dominating, adding definition to what is otherwise a soft, slowly evolving wash.
Released as the fifth track on Hawley’s Wet Cement EP, out 14 August 2026, “Susurrus” maintains that restrained approach through to its conclusion. Processed guitar, piano and environmental sound gradually fold together before the piece recedes back into silence.
Links
Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify | Apple Music
