Perth’s instrumental architects Tangled Thoughts of Leaving have just unveiled “The Floating Realm,” a 46-minute single-track release born from the spontaneous combustion of a studio welcome jam — and it might be one of the most genuinely immersive things they’ve ever committed to tape.
Watch the official full live session video for “The Floating Realm” via the YouTube player below:
The backstory matters here. Every week at Studio Sleepwalker’s Dread in North Dandalup, Western Australia, the band opens each session with what they call a “welcome jam” — a ritual with no agenda beyond connection: sink in, explore, listen. No arrangements, no pre-planned structures. Just Ron Pollard (piano, synth), Gracie Smith (drums), Paul Briggs (guitar, recorder), and Luke Pollard (bass) feeling out where the room wants to go. The band has hundreds of hours of this material archived — a living document of their collective headspace week after week. Occasionally, cameras go up. Occasionally, something extraordinary happens.
October 8, 2023 was one of those days. Recorded live at the studio, just after the release of Oscillating Forest and before a rare trip to perform in New Caledonia, this particular session yielded 45 minutes of what the band describes as “beautiful cohesion” — music that shares DNA with “Oscillating Forest” but drifts into considerably lighter, more ambient territory. Less weight, more suspension. Less architecture, more weather.
The visual side of “The Floating Realm” is equally compelling: the band invited Caitlin Mkhasibe — who created the artwork for “Oscillating Forest” — to film herself making new artwork in real time, reacting directly to the music as it unfolded. The result, available on YouTube, is a dual-channel creation document that underscores how deeply visual Tangled Thoughts of Leaving‘s world has always been.
But the audio stands entirely on its own. Mixed and mastered by Pollard himself at Sleepwalker’s Dread, “The Floating Realm” is a reminder that the best improvised music doesn’t feel improvised — it feels inevitable. A single, unbroken piece that shifts like light through cloud cover, never quite settling, never quite leaving.
Released March 15, 2026 via Bandcamp.
Purchase “The Floating Realm” on Bandcamp: https://ttol.bandcamp.com/album/the-floating-realm
Tracklist:
01. The Floating Realm 46:18
Lineup:
Ron Pollard / Piano, Synth
Gracie Smith / Drums
Paul Briggs / Guitar, Recorder
Luke Pollard / Bass