Mark Templeton’s last release Standing On A Hummingbird had me rummaging around in the box of adjectives I normally reserve to describe Fennesz records. Those two artists have since turned their back on each other, musically speaking, with the Austrian marching off into much darker and denser forests, and the Canadian heading into lighter, sun-dappled fields. In a recent release with aA Munson entitled Acre Loss Templeton edged at times towards more ambient field recording territory, while his new album Inland feels somewhat warmer and more organic than his debut.

Inland has clearly been painstakingly composed from delicate fragments of guitar, banjo, vocals, percussion and electronics, sampled and then reconstructed in forms which hint at songs. I’m not going to use the word “folktronica”, not even in quotes, and I certainly wouldn’t dream of saying that I’m not going to use it but thereby doing so, not even in quotes, but I will say that the drowsy collision of samples on “Sleep In Front Of”, with its vague vocals, guitar and gentle glitch remind me a little of The Books, which is no bad thing. The two part “West Of Fabric” is a fastidious little beauty, with some wordless mumbling cocooned within a pulsating fuzziness, finally giving birth to one of the album’s few moments of heavily granulated electric guitar – a jarring yet welcome little explosion. The album ends on a high note (in both senses) with the lush layers of “Beginnings” which chime and chirrup until they evaporate into the atmosphere itself.

Like an artist making crop circles, Templeton continues to carve his patterns into his chosen field. Getting lost in the gaps between the crops is a most pleasurable experience. Head to Anticipate to investigate further.