'Illusive' is electro-acoustic ambient artist Kelly David's second release on the Spotted Peccary label after 'Meditation in Green' (2009). That album was a a psychedelic journey deep into the heart of Viet Nam's Mekong Delta, but 'Illusive' takes you somewhere else. Seven tracks in 68 minutes (with the last two both being over 12 minutes each) provide an ambient journey to parts unknown. The overall effect of the opener, "Sentinel," is one of dawning and wakefulness. The music stretches and yawns in its droney textures, half asleep and still becoming. 2/3 of the way through some subtle percolation emerges, then gentle percussion buffeting the dream clouds away. That subtle, percolating percussion is back in "Palione" but somewhat elusively if you were trying to chase it. You get the impression here of ascension, moving upward, floating almost weightless. By the halfway point it becomes clear that you've left the terrestrial behind. Wherever you've gone now you're surrounded by avian creatures. "Distance" is measured in giant strides, leaping cloud pillows across the horizon. This is one of those pieces bound to stir a certain sort of nostalgia in you with its slow, minimal, stylized repetition of only a few notes and a soft percussive strike. (It became my favorite track on the album after only a couple of plays.)

What will you find in the "Garden of the Forgotten" ? Some interesting synth sequencing for one thing, along with drones that breathe and puffs of noise. Oh look! There's a strange plant...and a flower I remember from somewhere. Watch this place bloom with incredible life! While the title "Top of the Trees" doesn't lend itself to much abstract interpretation, it does provide a vantage point for observing the world below, and it turns out there's a lot going on down there. "Into the Ether" is just that; floating on the cosmic winds for 12:26 and this is the essence of space-ambient. "Northcoast" begins with some gently rolling waves, and at first you might think it could be the liquidy version of "Into the Ether," but it isn't long before an overwhelming sense of loneliness and apprehension takes over. Maybe it's the haunting oboe sound that makes this piece a bit disconcerting. The waves and the oboe disappear and all is calm for a while but in the last five minutes a very focused drone emerges like piercing rays of sunlight into your psyche. This ought to be enough to shake any listener out of their complacency, while a tumult in the background knocks you completely off your perch! It is certainly a different way to end the album.

Once again Kelly David has produced a fine ambient work that should keep you coming back for more. 'Illusive' eschews any typical New Age tropes in favor of creating a dreamy soundscape you can escape into.