Welcome to Shade Songs, the new album from Minneapolis artist Matthew Hiram.

This press kit has everything you need to know about the release, with streaming, download, artist photos, track details, and contact info.

Explore these exclusive press materials, and step into the shade.

ARTIST: Hiram
ALBUM: Shade Songs
LABEL: Permaculture Media
CATALOG: PCM-112

RELEASE DATE: Sept 22nd, 2026
GENRE: Ambient / Experimental
FORMATS: Digital / Cassette
FFO: IKSRE, JD Emmanuel, Patricia Wolf

Quick Links

LISTEN: Samply Link

EPK:  Dropbox Link

ONE SHEET:  Dropbox Link

SINGLE: Samply Link

ARTIST PICS: Dropbox Link

BANDCAMP:  Album Page

ARTWORK:‍ ‍ Dropbox Link

About the Album

Shade defines the shape of light, representing safety, refuge, and protection.

Hiram's latest offering embraces the short form, unfolding across ten vignettes centered on this theme. Built from real-time improvisation and layered sound environments, the album offers a series of intimate studio portraits at the edge of the human and natural worlds. With field recordings sourced from coastal palms and desert hillsides, the work conjures vistas and shorelines rendered in miniature. Each piece acts as a small window onto a larger geography. 

Photograph by Vincent Chadwick

Artist Bio

Matthew Hiram is a multi-disciplined artist, composer, and producer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Using flutes, synthesizers, and textures gathered from wilderness spaces, Hiram creates melodic, spatial environments inviting the listener into the living landscape. His practice blends deep listening and ecological awareness with a hardware based, electro-acoustic process, making music as an intuitive act of connection.

Album Concept

Inspired by the dynamics of library music, and the deep process of dub, the album travels far distances in brief timespans. Named like entries in a field notebook, the track titles borrow from Latin, Hebrew, and botanical names to trace the album's movement between light and shadow. 

Bass guitar and wooden flute move through worlds of orchestral color, patiently expanding. At times the view narrows to micro-botanical scale, elsewhere our perspective widens, and soft contrasts emerge. Born from specific environments while gesturing outward beyond place, each piece holds an invitation toward cool rest, like shelter beneath broad branches. 

Tracklist

1. Umbra (6:08)
2. Tsel (2:52)
3. Cercis (3:28)
4. Sedge (2:57)
5. Quies (2:39)
6. Rami (2:20)
7. Alba (3:34)
8. Lente (2:20)
9. Lucet (4:44)
10. Viridis (4:36)

Total playtime: 35:42

Pressing Information

PCM-112 - Digital Album & Limited Edition Cassette

Real-time duplicated to RTM 900 stock, labeled clear shell c36 cassette comes packaged with classic 3 panel J-card featuring original full color photography by the artist. Packaged in square cornered clear Norleco case.

Hand-numbered pressing of 25 copies.

Main Themes


Rest, Safety, and Protection

• Human / Nature Connection

• Balance of Light & Shadow

• Environmental Storytelling

• Slow & Attentive Listening

• Sitting Quietly Under a Tree

Dedication & Credits


For Chhaya, and the living green spaces. 

Music composed, arranged, and performed by Hiram. 

Field recordings collected from Tanque Verde Ridge, Arizona & Crystal River, Florida 

Mixed and Mastered by Matthew Hiram at Natural Sound Studio | Minneapolis, MN

Photograph by Vincent Chadwick

Ways to Support

Write a review or feature on Shade Songs

Add Hiram to your favorite ambient playlist

Share & tag @matthewhiram on socials

Interview the Matthew about his process

What Folks Are Saying:

"a great project, expertly realized"
— The Wire, Byron Coley

“a welcome addition to the canon of botanical ambient”

— Zen Sounds

“at the forefront of environmental sound design”

— Sun 13

Quick Links

LISTEN: Samply Link

EPK:  Dropbox Link

ONE SHEET:  Dropbox Link

SINGLE: Samply Link

ARTIST PICS: Dropbox Link

BANDCAMP:  Album Page

ARTWORK:‍ ‍ Dropbox Link


fragileplanetmusic@gmail.com

Contact: