The Use Of Ashes' previous full-length White Nights: The Hand Of Tzafkiël saw them return to their roots as a psychedelic folk ensemble. Still marked by their experimental excursions into the realms of sound art and remixes, however, it was also an eccentric and gloomy work, combining tender melodic pieces with ghostly drones and surreal collages. White Nights: Glowing Lights is a direct continuation of its predecessor's approach, but places even greater importance on the band's talents as intuitive songsmiths. As a result, the focus of these occasionally no more than two minute long tracks is firmly on acoustic guitars and Peter van Vliet's voice, with organs, sitars, tablas as well as an array of vintage analogue synthesizers providing a colourful backdrop. The dark, claustrophobic and nightmare-like ambiance of The Hand Of Tzafkiël has evaporated and given way to a more luminous, airy and laminar sound - especially so in floating instrumental sections filled with undulating harmonics and dreamy mellotron melodies. As has been revealed, the record is the second volume in an ambitious cycle of interconnected releases. The Use Of Ashes have certainly entered a new period of prolific productivity after a relatively quiet phase spent with re-evaluating the future of the project: even though glowing lights contains enough ideas to see other bands through an entire career, yet more white nights material is to follow soon. As Peter van Vliet promises after all: "like all stories, this one has not yet come to an end." Deluxe mini lp cardcoard CD with OBI.