The Blue Dunes
deepspace

Image by Jeremy Ruckels

THE BLUE DUNES is the 13th studio album by star-faring Australian electronic musician Deepspace, andhis second on Projekt Records. The album is possibly his most serene and quiet work yet, painting calm andexquisitely barren sound pictures of imagined desert landscapes. Inspired by the discovery of what first
seemed to be blue-coloured dunes on Mars by the Odyssey orbiter in 2021, this album takes the promise ofthat discovery and explores a desert bathed entirely in those cool colours.
Even though the dunes on Mars only appeared blue due to false-colour imagery indicating temperature, it
was enough to kindle into existence the desire for such a surreal and softly-coloured place. This desert, with
its imagined colour is represented by some of the most hypnotic deepspace music yet. Longing, desolate
sounds with glassy luminescence abound, interspersed with soft transient murmurs that are not quite
identifiable- Maybe the sound of a cluster of strangely-shaped rock, or something unusual in your path as
you voyage into this vast and strange terrain. Like a pulsing heatwave, cool chords hover and transform into
new, then back, invoking a halcyon shimmer that sings of the love of solitude and nothingness.
Occasionally, some respite from the harsh barren parts of the desert occurs in sound form as the chords
cool and clouds form, providing shade from the penetrating sun.
This album is the sound of an artist using the minimal amount of tools possible to achieve something that is
not achievable by using more: Only the restraint taught by repeated practise makes this type of music
possible. Who knows, maybe there are blue deserts somewhere out there in space? But whatever thecolour, this album is a love song to zoning out in solitude and warm isolation.
On creating the Blue Dunes, Mirko says: “I think that most ambient creators listen to their own work to someextent after creating it, for a number of reasons: to check it for errors, consistency, feel and various otheraspects, but I have listened to the Blue Dunes almost obsessively since creating it. It calms me deeply and itis the right colour- And this colour is so intangible to me that all these years of creating ambient music, I stilldon’t know what makes any piece of music the right colour.”On top of this, a story emerged from the music. Read on and discover the journey into the blue dunes.

"This album is the sound of an artist
using the minimal amount of tools
possible to achieve something that is
not achievable by using more"Here is the accompanying science-fiction short story toThe Blue Dunes. It could be atmospheric to read while
listening to the album.

"On closer inspection,
the dunes are dark
creamy blue
throughout, they arecomposed of countlesstiny jewels of sand ."The Blue Dunes Journal(with track titles that inspired the entries):
Track 1: The Blue Dunes
I’ve travelled north on foot for a day and am near thesouthern part of the dunes. They stretch north for untold
kilometres, so I will need to make my supplies last withenough to get back to my ship. I can see them looming
invitingly in the distance, probably only an hour away now.
They are stunningly beautiful from here, resplendent andblue under the warm white sun, surreal in their glory andslow vastness. The sensor in my watch emits its dulcet
pulse every few minutes, guiding me on. I will camp near
the dunes tonight.

After striking my little camp, I begin my walk proper. Here I
go. Blue sand passes under my feet as I cross the firstdune and see the magnificent array of sand formations
that emanate northward under the sky. My lungscommand an involuntary intake of air as I scan thepanorama in front of me. I only release the air about 10
seconds later, feeling my chest lower and a tingling
sense of warmth and excitement spread throughout mybody. On closer inspection, the dunes are dark creamy
blue throughout, they are composed of countless tiny
jewels of sand. Together they create a blue environmentthat is deeply lulling and hypnotic, creating a sense of
profound aloneness and delight. I stop and pour somewarm pure blue sand through my hands, and thenresume walking, smiling with wonder.

I look at them from my tent, only a few hundred metresaway now. I sit cross legged and ponder their serene
desolation- such a strangely unnatural description- they
offer hypnotic beauty yet are no place for life. A faint windchases ripples of sand up and down the main dune nearby.
I am so alone out here. As the sun sets and the planet turns
imperceptibly, I crawl into my tent to rest for tomorrow.
Image by NASA

Track 2: An Unexpected Shelter
The sun is hotter that I thought it would be. While the temperature islower than what you would normally expect in a desert, the heatgenerated by walking makes the otherwise idyllic 27 degrees
Celsius build up over time, mostly due to the glare of the slightly
smaller white sun. I walk over a crescent dune and am stopped inmy tracks.
An empty ruin of rocks.
In the middle of a valley between dunes, lies this sudden surprise.
Like a temple, except created by wind, sand and sun instead ofhands, this strange conglomeration stands hidden beneath the topsof the surrounding dunes. Rocks are worn by wind into surreal
shapes that defy architecture. The structure provides shade, which I
eagerly accept. I sit on the dark rocks, in a cave-like alcove,appreciative and drink from my water supplies. The wind sings andthis causes the rocks to resonate with deep languid tones or at least Iimagine they do, I’m not sure. I put my hands on the rocks and feelthe vibrations. Cool, dark relief on my palms. I did not expect such asensation from this.
I picture cool water flowing underground as I look around the quiet
valley between the dunes. I imagine that I can hear it underneath therocks, and visualise descending down to seek more shelter. I enjoy
my time here before setting off.

"I walk over a crescentdune and am stopped
in my tracks. An emptyruin of rocks."

"Clouds pass overhead, non-sentient, although I’m questioning all my assumptions now."

Track 3: Emptiness (The Blue Seas of Sand)
Walking again. I remember that it is the second day, but it doesn’t feellike it. Time seems dilated in this vast place, where the normal constructs
that we hold in order to makes sense of things, become confused andsomewhat merged. Time becomes distance becomes landscape
becomes sky. The sands have also become hotter. Arid. Telling mesomething. I’m not sure what.
Clouds pass overhead, non-sentient, although I’m questioning all myassumptions now. They are imperious white beasts, like slow motion
cats, teasing me with their streaky fluffiness, far above, observing myfrailty and slowness. I must look like an exiled ant with a death wish tothem. It is hard to hold onto the idea of time in an ordinary way when you
walk through such a vast landscape. And thoughts seem a bit more
slippery, a bit like some of the more vertiginous dunes I am clambering
up now. I'm getting a bit fatigued today. Dune after dune. Climbing, thenslight relief as I descend. The sensor on my watch beeps, renewing asense of identity and purpose within me.

Track 4: The Wind at Night
In my tent, the sand stops stinging my face.
Conditions have worsened somewhat but
are still manageable. Supplies are doing
their thing: being in decline, as they do. But I
should be ok. I feel like something ishappening but can’t figure out for the life ofme what it is. It’s like my mind is being
affected by something. I distract myself andsleep, although it is unsettled sleep as thewind is loud and all encompassing outside.
The sound of the sensor is a little louder
now when it does it’s regular beep andsounds...somewhat hollow and eerie. It must
be my imagination or the wind. Yes, it’s a littleof both I would say.

"My dreams arehaunted by sand."I wake up in the middle of the night and thewind has stopped. Completely. It isincredibly quiet. I enjoy the strange stillness
and go back to sleep, thankful. My dreams
are haunted by sand.
Image by NASATrack 5: The Flatlands (Figures in the Heatwave)"Ghosts moving in the heatwaves."

The sensor on my arm beeps a little louder again. I
am getting closer. The dunes are much smaller now
and are mostly part of a flat blue landscape riddledwith ripples of sand. If I thought the dunes had adesolate feeling a few weeks ago….. no wait, it’s only
been a few days. Anyway, it’s much more desolate
here. I can see the flat area rimmed by distant dunes
up ahead and all around the flat relief that I amwalking through. It could have been a lake once.
There are some odd small rocks to confirm mysuspicions.
I wonder if there is still water somewhere
underneath the ground in cool labyrinthine caves. I
can’t tell how far away the perimeter dunes are. It
could be an hour away, or a day. I can’t trust mydepth perception anymore. Everything feels faraway. Like I’m sinking into this sea of sand. I canhear my heart beating when I stop walking, so I
don’t stop. The heat is intensifying, and I feel itcoursing through my body, from the sand into mylegs, then upwards, as well as from the sun, throughmy skull downwards.

This is bothering me as there is no escapeand I have to fight back a feeling ofclaustrophobia, which is strange as I couldn’t
be in a less confined space. Only my tent,
attached to my backpack, and the odd steep
dune in the afternoon, which there are noneof right now, offers any shade. I have started
noticing shapes and movement on thehorizon. Ghosts moving in the heatwaves.
Writhing flashes of light in between thedistant perimeter dunes and the flat sand. It isunnerving, yet I console myself that theshapes are not real and are a result of theshimmering heatwave. But how would I be
able to tell if they were real? I silence thisthought. I don’t look, and walk on. I must get
my thoughts under control.
Unexpectedly, the sensor beeps at a new,different pitch. My pack hits me in the back as
I stop in my tracks instantly.
It is then that I see it.
There were things in the heatwave after all.

Track 6: The Memory
As I sit in the carrier ship, I mutely ponder what has just happened
and why I am sitting, dressed in a robe, in an empty room. I woke up
in a bed, got dressed and came and sat down here. I read throughmy journal and can see the words and events that happen over thepast week transcribed on my device. But in my mind, it’s all justgone. None of that happened. I don’t remember writing the last, or
any of the entries. The edges of memory I do have are so frayed that
I can’t remember where reality joins with my supposed trip. It feels
like a stranger’s hand filled in my journal, or that I am reading a workof fiction.

But in my mind, it’s all just gone. None of thathappened. I don’t remember writing the last, or
any of the entries.

I look through the window at a landscape moving far below. The
blues everywhere seem more vivid now. I see blue everywhere,
Even as I write in my journal. Even in the composition of othercolours, and it fills me with a sense of something. Maybe it’s serenity
or peace, without it being that specific. Maybe the memories in thejournal will come back over time to explain what happened. Maybe
they won’t. Maybe it wasn’t me, and I’m not sure I want to know now.
I don’t really know what I have lost or gained. Is this some sort ofdissociative amnesia? That normally happens when someone has
witnessed something extremely traumatic. The thought makes me
uncomfortable.
Image by Georgina Buchanan

"I don’t know what these dreams mean. Is my unconscious trying to process what I saw?"
Last entry
I’ve been having the most vivid dreams. In one, I am wandering among blue
dunes and hovering about a hundred metres up in the sky is the most collossal
squid, suspended vertically into the sky. The thing itself is probably several
hundred metres long, and there are thousands of birds, or what look like birds
flying in and out of the siphon near its eyes. It looks like it’s a nest for thesecreatuees. The tentacles move slowly as this behemoth just hovers above thedesert.
Another dreams is of a giant humanoid creature wandering the dunes. I try tostay out of site, but it eventually sees me and emits a horrendously loud howl. Ifeel my body shake with fear, and then I wake up. I don’t know what thesedreams mean. Is my unconscious trying to process what I saw? They’ve
occured multiple times now, and I am getting desperate for an answer. Whatthe hell did I see?
Journal ends.

Image by Jeremy Ruckels

Deepspace is Brisbane, Australia-based ambient musician Mirko Ruckels. His hypnotic, glacial, dreamy andatmospheric work is created with various synthesisers, software and acoustic instruments such as bells, guitars andpiano. When he was a little boy in Germany (he is German/French) he would slip into a reverie at hearing a distant lawn
mower, church bells, passing planes, or the rumblings of far-off trains. This love of drones and ambient sound led to awonderful moment upon discovering there are other like-minded artists and listeners who also enjoyed atmosphericenvironments that evoke liminal moods and spaces. Ruckels discovered THE RIVER OF APPEARANCE byvidnaObmana and became obsessed with the strange slow, sun-filled expanses that defied conventional harmony,arrangement and instrumentation. Later, STRUCTURES FROM SILENCE by Steve Roach was the next piece in thepuzzle which inspired him to explore and create his own music. He says “I literally had no idea how to make ambient
music and just felt my way in the dark.” In 2006, Deepspace was born. Themes range from macro — such as space,underwater, deserts and science fiction imaginings, to micro — internal states and microscopic life.
Deepspace has released thirteen albums, two through Projekt records, SUPERRADIANCE, and THE BLUE DUNES, ten
independently and THE GLITTERING DOMAIN (2009) through American label Hypnos. He also has two 2021
collaborations with theAdelaidean ADRIFT and ANTIGRAVITY, both on Projekt Records.

Main images and photography by Jeremy Ruckels
dunes photos on page 6 by Georgina Buchanan
Background images on page 2,3, 4 and 6 by NASA
Incidental AI art by Nightcafe.com
The album is available at projekt bandcamp.
https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/
Projekt records 2022

Mirko Ruckels - deepspace