In a hyper-connected world of social media, information excess and a constant desire to show and share our experiences, we often overlook the simple pleasure of savouring it for ourselves.
In a tumbling desperation to update, pin, poke and comment, it’s all too easy to forget that the truly wonderful moments are those that leave us awestruck and momentarily detached from the world around us. For Roberto Sodano aka Audioglider, one such experience has vividly endured for two decades.
“I was doing a bit of travelling and working in Egypt and I went to Siwa, a large oasis in the middle of the Libyan Desert” he explains. “It was fantastic and otherworldly to arrive at this lush, palm-strewn, isolated island with a lake at its heart and I spent a fantastically slow week there, taking in the simple pleasures of the everyday sights and smells, and gazing in wonder out in the desert, at the starry night skies.“
Set in stark contrast to the cacophony and claustrophobia of Egypt’s capital, Siwa emerged as a green jewel in a barren desert crown, and ‘Heathaze Days’ charts the contrasts, encompassing the sand-blasted, sweat-soaked 10 hour drive to the blissful discovery of the oasis itself.
It’s a journey in every sense, the simple, sparse beats capturing the monotony of transit and the layered bursts of melody blossoming as Roberto delves deeper into the green vitality of Siwa. It builds a warmth and quiet euphoria that comes with selfishly holding onto a moment because it’s yours, so that as Roberto's desert odyssey longingly comes to an end, and the harmony wistfully fades out, the moments of discovery and reflection are as vivid as ever.
“It was a relief to the senses to be cut off and isolated, to recharge and get a different perspective because there really was a sense of stillness,” he says. It was an opportunity to reflect, take stock and enjoy the moment for the moment, in the moment."
ASIP022 Audioglider - Heathaze Days
