Lunatic Soul is the solo studio music project of the multi-talented creator, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mariusz Duda (Riverside).

 

Through Shaded Woods is a new opening for Lunatic Soul, with it not only being considered the most refined and richest sounding album, but also the brightest and most positive in their discography to date.

 

Following the heavily electronic soundscapes of previous albums Fractured and Under the Fragmented Sky, Through Shaded Woods is completely devoid of electronics and is the first album in Duda’s back catalogue on which he plays all instruments.

 

Mariusz found his inspiration for the album from his childhood home, an area of Poland known for its forests and lakes.”I think I have always wanted to create an album steeped in nature and woodlands. These bring to my mind freedom, breathing and a dance ritual of coming back to nature, so I wanted the album to include such ritualistic primal dances, shamanic, Slavic and Viking moods. I wanted to mix it all up and put it all together, making Through Shaded Woods the most intense, dynamic and most danceable album of my career.”

 

Mariusz Duda appears to have put the personal darkness that inspired his previous albums behind him, as more optimistic elements shine through in his new music. The album moves ‘through shaded woods’ and ends up in a more illuminated place – from the atmospheric introduction of Navvie through to the title track, and the trance-like Oblivion (which echoes the style of Dead Can Dance).