Is this what it feels like to finally go insane? When reality and “something else” force themselves to occupy the same space, leaving you unsure as to what is actually happening and what is just the mind playing its darkest of tricks. This album from French musician Mathias Delplanque consists of field recordings from various transport related locations that are then fused with ambience and drones to generate sonic environments where it becomes impossible to tell truth from deceit.

In constructing the seven pieces on Passeports (Delplanque’s 8th solo album) his field recordings are replayed at home as his sonic palette is layered over them; it is this merger of sounds that is then recaptured for the final recording. At times, on tracks like ‘Passport 2 (Lille)’, the results can be very dark and tense, creating an unsettling feeling of indeterminate evil. Elsewhere during ‘Passport 6 (Nantes)’ there is more optimism, entwined with a sense of closure, security and finality.

But whether it’s impending doom or waves of euphoria, everything is assembled with exquisite care and attention. Pieces rise and fall like giant diaphragms, slowly filling ethereal lungs, priming them for their overwhelming final breath of impenetrable sonic energy, forming a scream that tears through the fragile barriers between sanity and actuality.

‘Passeport 3 (Dieppe)’ is unique in its use of recordings taken in a New Delhi call centre, as the crackling and bristling drones build throughout they are unceremoniously pulled from underfoot for the final minute; leaving the dissected voices of telephony staff to occupy the closing moments with haunting consequences. Their chatter is left to fill the space as they splinter and chop into one another, sending forth echoes of humanity from the digitised chaos.

For a transport themed record it certainly fulfils its commitment to provide an excursion, negotiating a winding path through a varied range of emotional states. Listening on headphones or in a low ambient noise environment is advised to fully experience the world that he has so painstakingly constructed. Fans of drone and ambience in general will find Passeports is a place they want to visit time and time again.