A quick selection of recent ambient and cinematic releases we’ve been spending time with, spanning albums, EPs, and singles from across the genre.
Marielle V Jakobsons – The Patterns Lost To Air
Album (via Thrill Jockey Records) || 20 February 2026 || Ambient, Neoclassical || United States
A beautiful record that drifts between dreamy and more pensive moments, with piano, strings, and synths all blending together so naturally.
Playlist Companion: Ambient & Neoclassical
Pan-American – Fly The Ocean In A Silver Plane
Album (via Kranky) || 27 March 2026 || Ambient, Ambient Americana, Electroacoustic || United States
Didn’t expect a record that uses travel as a metaphor for everything from birth to death to feel this gentle, but here we are. If artists like Labradford, Grouper, or Stars of the Lid are already in your rotation, this feels like a natural place to end up: same world, but a tad warmer and more personal.
Playlist Companions: Ambient & Neoclassical | Warm, Nostalgic Instrumentals
Saba Alizadeh – Rituals Of The Last Dawn
Album (via Karlrecords) || 20 March 2026 || Ambient, Electroacoustic, Dark Ambient, Drone || Iran
Forty minutes of two improvised pieces that feel like a slow ritual at dusk, and the kamancheh really hits different here.
Kazuma Okabayashi & B9 – Bhoopali In E
Single (via Nettwerk) || 17 April 2026 || Drone, Ambient || Japan
Coming out of Japan, this has that really patient, inward feel to it, and it says a lot without trying to do too much.
Playlist Companion: Dreamy, Warm Drone-Ambient
Shawn Williams – Waipio
EP (via The Sound Cabin) || 6 February 2026 || Cinematic, Ambient, Ambient Folk || United States
A short, lovely cinematic EP: acoustic guitar, violin, some light electronic touches, the kind of thing that just wraps around you.
Playlist Companion: Cinematic Instrumentals
Prymek & Sage – Shelter
Album (via AKP Recordings) || 10 April 2026 || Ambient, Ambient Americana, Ambient Jazz || United States
Feels like sitting on a porch with an old friend in the late afternoon, catching up on the good and the bad. A warm, open-ended album where ambient, folk, and jazz all blur together.
Playlist Companion: Warm, Nostalgic Instrumentals
Simon Wester & Brett Anthony Shaw – By Still Waters
Single || 10 April 2026 || Neoclassical, Ambient || Sweden, Australia
This has that soft, filmic pull you get from artists like Olafur Arnalds, Goldmund, and Dustin O’Halloran.
Playlist Companion: Cinematic Instrumentals
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