Legendary French keyboardist Francis Rimbert offers his debut work of escape music, Double Face. Much of life is spent playing Houdini. We escape from bad music, bad food, bad influences, bad air. But escape to what? You can spend only so much time in a spa or a cocktail lounge. Even the beach gets tired after awhile. The soul needs nourishment; the mind needs stimulation. And it is at that moment of truth you discover Double Face. Rimbert makes music for the active listener, the person who is willing to engage the artist in the midst of the strange and beautiful universe that he produces.

Even the most seemingly simple compositions have the power to confound and bewitch. Women's Land, for instance, begins with the early morning sounds of birds. You are on your patio, ready for a dip in the pool to start the day. You dive in. Deep down in the blue, you hear a repeating musical figure. Not a loop but an alluring beacon drawing you near. You swim around the figure and as you move, the figure begins to change, becoming more beautiful and more involved. You notice the sound of breathing and the pulse of a heart. They are your own.

Expertly mixed by Patrick Pelamourgues, Double Face is that rarest of music - a lush, living organism that demands your attention but gives the intrepid senses plenty of just rewards.

Ambient techno wizard Maxime Tanaka explores the eternal return of the sea in a soundscape created entirely from loops of samples. This is the first release in our Ambient Essay series.

Listen to exclusive clips.