Avi C. Engel is a Toronto-based artist and musician who has released an impressive body of avant-garde work on Bandcamp since 2004. On their latest release, Nocturne (Soundtrack for an Invisible Film), they conjure sounds out of a spell of sleeplessness and depression that both enchanted and unnerved me.
The record began as an attempt for Avi to soothe their own mind, and they share it “with the hope it might soothe other minds as well, or at least offer an interesting distraction.” Nocturne’s nine tracks have a grounding effect but also ache with melancholy and deep feeling. Avi plays all the instruments on the record, offering a glimpse into their inner world, combining avant-garde sensibilities with a knack for excellent songwriting.
The record traverses through liminal spaces from the desolate guitar on “Nostalgia, a Saccharine Poison” to the gothic singer-songwriter poetry of “Into the Golden Void.” “All is forgiven/All is destroyed,” Avi sings, and you can almost see shadows crawling on the wall behind them.
Nocturne unfolds with eerie ritualism that is entrancing to behold. Avi’s lyrics on many tracks dig deep into the black earth like ancient tree roots, entangling droning sounds, disembodied whispers, and distorted chants.
Listening to the record, I felt like I was pulled into a dream—or nightmare—I couldn’t fully remember, oscillating between dread and transcendence. “Night Walk in the Loon Sanctuary” was one of the tracks that made most me feel that way. It sounds like the sonic embodiment of an M.R. James short story, full of phantoms and cold hands that emerge from behind walls and pull you in.
Nocturne is meditative and unsettling, a record that resists definition as much as it invites utter surrender. It’s music for wandering abandoned subway tunnels, watching stars zip through the sky through fractured glass, and confronting the void.
This is not an album you simply listen to—it’s something you inhabit. It is a dark world to explore, where every crackle and whispered word pulls you deeper into its harrowingly beautiful labyrinth. Take it with you on a nighttime walk in the deep, dark woods on a cold night when the moon shines brightest.
Check out Nocturne (Soundtrack for an Invisible Film) by Avi C. Engel on Bandcamp here.
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