Following the jazzy library sounds of his 2023 collaborative LP "Dolphin" with Greg Foat and Moses Boyd, Venetian maestro Gigi Masin returns to the ambient sound he's known for with "Movement," his first solo album since 2020's "Calypso" and his debut on Sacred Bones Records. Driven by creative reinvention and rhythmic movement, he seamlessly navigates between melancholic MIDI sounds, techno-like robotics, groovy, liminal cloudscapes, and ocean-deep ambient. With the first single, "Lost," Masin evokes the feeling of drifting in an unknown sea, with poignant synthetic trumpet and a sense of floating, liminal suspension. Since his early, anonymous beginnings, his 1986 debut album, "Wind," slowly built an organic following on late-night radio, a following that was later amplified when "Clouds" was sampled by artists such as Björk, Post Malone, and others. His fans today include Oneohtrix Point Never, Devendra Banhart, Caroline Polachek, and the late Kenny Wheeler. The new album, "Movement," reflects Masin's place in the pantheon of ambient masters, his enduring artistic ambitions, and his aspirations for a scene whose exponential growth he has witnessed since its humble beginnings. The LP is also an ode to literal movement, both in nature and in the physical expression of humankind in relation to sound. Masin sought to create ambient music for movement, not in the conventional sense of dance music, but rather "dynamic music, with a beating heart full of love." By dissolving the association of ambient with solitary listening experiences and cool academia, Gigi turned outward, channeling something somatic that connects with the body, not just the mind. "Bed on Mars" sets the titular tone for Masin's rekindled curiosity, with cosmic atmospheres that evoke the feeling of waking up fearlessly on a new planet, while the poignant synthetic trumpet and floating liminal state of "Lost" feel like drifting in an unknown sea. Diving even deeper into eccentric beats, the celestial techno-funk of "Deception Dance" sounds like Sun Electric jamming with Carl Craig and Kraftwerk. The radiant light of "Golden" radiates warmth and sounds like the bossa nova sibling of Göttsching's Balearic classic E2 E4. Despite the death of his wife after a long illness and the loss of his musical archive in a flood, Gigi remains pure and positive at heart, pouring his heart and soul into the pursuit of beauty. As the latest work in a slow-starting but steadily growing career, Masin's "Movement" further solidifies his place among the true giants of ambient music.