frostlake

Frostlake, the atmospheric and visionary project of musician and composer Jan Todd, unveils her new album Shattered Stone through the renowned label Discus Music. Known for her haunting soundscapes and delicate layering of sonic textures, Frostlake continues to push the boundaries between ambient, folk, and experimental music with this latest body of work. Shattered Stone is a deeply evocative album that reflects both fragility and resilience, weaving together shimmering electronic environments with acoustic instrumentation and ethereal vocals. Every track is a landscape in itself—organic and fluid, yet meticulously crafted to immerse the listener in a contemplative, otherworldly experience. Drawing inspiration from themes of memory, impermanence, and renewal, Frostlake balances introspective stillness with dynamic intensity. Her music has long been celebrated for its ability to transport the listener—sometimes into dreamlike serenity, sometimes into brooding mystery—always with an unmistakable emotional pull. With Shattered Stone, Frostlake demonstrates once again mastery of texture and mood, creating a sound universe that is as intimate as it is expansive. Fans of experimental ambient music, progressive sound design, and genre-defying composition will find themselves drawn into its spellbinding layers. – SOUNDOHM https://www.soundohm.com/product/shattered-stone

Before we get into the haunting beauty of the fourth album by Frostlake, it is only right to talk a little bit about those involved and who plays on what. Although the band is now a trio with Andy Peake joining Jan Todd and Terry Todd, there are only two of the eleven songs where all three involved as we have three where it is Jan solo, two where she plays with Andy, and four where she is with Terry. Jan wrote four of the songs on her own, four with Terry, two with Andy and only one where it is the three of them, so in many ways this feels more like a Jan solo album than a true band. Mind you, when one looks at the instrumentation one can see why that appears to be the case, as she provides vocals, melodies and lyrics, guitar-electric/acoustic, cello, electric Harp.E, baritone psaltery, waterphones, guzheng, Hulusi flute, kalimba, Theremin, Korg wavedrum, Noisebox metal percussion, midi keys, software instruments, drum creations/samples, electronics, field recordings, studio recording and post production, and there is just room for Terry (electro-acoustic bass guitar, electro-acoustic 12 string guitar) and Andy (piano, organ). For those thinking some of those names are strangely familiar I will put you out of your misery as Andy was a founder member of the critically acclaimed post punk act The Comsat Angels, which Terry then joined in the Nineties. It is safe to say that Frostlake are somewhat removed from those origins. Mind you, given that both Jan and Terry are also members of Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere, a band formed in 2010 by Martin Archer and Chris Bywater, due to their love of Magma, Terry Riley, Alice Coltrane, Stockhausen and Sun Ra, that makes somewhat more sense. This album revolved around the vocals of Jan, with waves of instrumentation placed against them which are somewhat fragile, yet which together build a structure which is solid and the listener is transported on a journey to a far and distant destination. With so many different sounds coming at the listener it can be quite difficult to work out exactly what is taking place, and with what, so it is better to instead concentrate on the vocals and allow everything else to do what it is supposed to, namely provide a backdrop without ever moving into the harsh spotlight. In some ways it reminds me of Talis Kimberley from the Nineties, especially when Jan is using a psaltery, yet there are also hints of Maryen Cairns, Enya, Anna Ryder and Jo Beth Young. I can see fans of Talitha Rise, especially ‘An Abandoned Orchid House’, finding a great deal on here to enjoy as not only is this musical but truly magical in so many ways. It is music which must be played on headphones when one has the time to truly concentrate as otherwise all the nuances pass one by, and it is these which truly lift this release. I have enjoyed this so much that I have sought out their last release, 2021’s ‘The Weight of Clouds’, which I will be reviewing soon. If you enjoy beautiful modern progressive folk with wonderful female vocals then this is definitely one to seek out. – Progtector, PROGRESSOR http://www.progressor.net/review/frostlake_2025.html

Ten years back, Frostlake was singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jan Todd, supported by her partner Terry Todd and a carousel of guest players on the debut album White Moon, Black Moon; among those many guests was keyboard player Andy Peake. Ice & Bone followed in 2019, with Jan Todd playing nearly all the instruments (and a long list it was), supported by Terry Todd on bass, while 2021 brought The Weight of Clouds, again with Jan Todd singing and playing an even longer list of instruments, with Terry Todd playing acoustic and electric bass and twelve string guitar. Now we finally have a new album, Shattered Stone, and Andy Peake has rejoined on piano and organ, now making Frostlake officially a trio. So while each of the albums has a slightly different character, Shattered Stone could best be described as gentle, folky, and beautiful, but occasionally melancholic songcraft, embellished in modern and ancient instrumentation — though in contrast to the general shaded mood, the lyrics seem to be very upbeat and positive. The songwriting this time out is either Jan by herself or shared with various combinations of the others. She sings, plays acoustic and electric guitars, cello, electric harp, baritone psaltery, waterphone, guzheng, kalimba, halusi flute, noisebox, Korg Wavedrum, midi keys, software instruments, metal percussion, electronics, drum samples and field recordings; that’s a slightly different list from the previous album, but in the context of the eleven tracks on offer, nonetheless very effective, serving the songs well. Her voice is at times, very ethereal, magical, breathy, and even gothic, but tirelessly beautiful. Opener “The Breath” with piano, bass, and hand drums supporting, is probably as close as we get to a jazzy sound here, while the closer “Wheels Roll On” draws on a dreamy folk style with poweful undercurrents. Between those bookends there are plenty of standout tracks: “Behind Closed Eyes” drifts along gracefully with splendid harmonized voices, while “Rise & Fall” moves in gently, the backing cello having a major impact on the proceedings; gentle and upbeat, “Mirror” pushes along with dreamy persistence, while “Jigsaw” seems to find its roots in ancient folk music. Every song here offers a unique experience, and all can be sampled at the link below. One might want to check out the earlier Frostlake albums as well, as all four are outstanding. – Peter Thelen, EXPOSÉ http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/frostlake-shattered-stone-3.html

Multi-instrumentalist Jan Todd‘s fourth album has Frostlake has her once again teaming up with Terry Todd to provide bass tones; but the addition of Andy Peake on piano has imbued the pieces here with a timeless air and a real sense of the soft hush of a dreamworld.

Where the previous albums seemed to be a little more rugged and external, here the soft waft of electric piano, the gentle hush of drums and Jan’s haunting melancholic drift of voice feel more internal. You sense the roaring log fire, the warming toddy, the sensual drift into a liminal place. Cheerful flurries and little textural details prevent things from becoming too settled and Jan’s desire to try a different instrument for each track means there is a constant subtle evolution of the sound.

Once again the list of instruments is as long as my arm, with psaltery, Theremini, waterphone and guzheng taking their places alongside the usual guitar, percussion, electronics and field recordings. This means that her soft enticing voice is given a variety of backdrops against which to wander; a distant strum of guitar along with shakers gives “Now And Then” a faint sense of momentum, while ”Rise And Fall” has a less tenuous grip on reality. It is in danger of evaporating as scrapes of percussion and the waterphone backdrop evoke the feeling of a friend leaving; that final warm hug before they wend their way.

The piano lends a romantic air to the almost sprightly “Becoming Icarus”, with Jan’s celestial harmonies touching the soul, while there is a delightful waver of electric piano on the ghostly “Sundowner”. You find yourself listening for the little details that make each piece unique on this album; the combination of psaltery and kalimba on “Jigsaw” or the use of guzheng and flute that gives “Grounded” an Eastern vibe. There is a bit of gravitas in the insistence of the guitar on “Mirror”, the melody anchored by the feeling of movement, while the Theremini and bass on “Parapet” inject a little sci-fi space intrigue, just as you thought you had their measure.

A special mention must be made once again for Terry’s bass playing that underscores all the pieces here with enough structure to prevent them dissipating, but as ever it is the singular vision of Jan that makes it work. You can guarantee that each of the Frostlake albums is a journey, but here on Shattered Stone, it is more of a spiritual journey, the warmth of the delivery and the gentle nature of the songs swelling the heart. – Mr Olivetti, FREQ https://freq.org.uk/reviews/frostlake-shattered-stone/

This is the fourth disc from Frostlake, currently a trio led by Jan Todd with help from Terry Todd and Andy Peake. Both Jan and Terry Todd are also members of another Discus group called the Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere. Both Terry Todd and Andy Peake were once members of the eighties new waver band Comsat Angels. This disc begins with “The Breath”, a solemn, sort-of sad, haunting ballad featuring Ms. Todd’s hushed, dreamy vocals. Rather nice. “Now and Then” is also hushed, haunting and laid back with lovely, sad vocals by Ms. Todd. This music reminds me a an LA band called Downy Mildew from the late 1980’s/early 1990’s, a similar wistful spirit. Although it is Ms. Todd’s soft, sad voice that is the center of these songs, it is the way she uses subtle, mysterious, dream-like samples that makes this more hypnotic and enticing. The songs seem to come from a dream-like landscape, rather mystical and exquisite. Ms. Todd appears to have a lovely voice which she softens in a haze. If I were the producer, I would’ve turned down the haze a bit to let her voice shine through more. Either way, I found this disc to be most enchanting, a welcome reprise from the noisier, freer weirdness that I usually review here. – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery NYC

A great wealth of sounds put into service, in this fourth album, of an English psychedelic folk whose atmospheric, contemplative mood flirts with a bushy and melancholic atmosphere. – Bernard Vincken, PROG CENSOR http://www.facebook.com/progcensor

Frostlake makes records that ask you to change how you listen. Built around Sheffield‑based vocalist, multi‑instrumentalist and composer Jan Todd, who moves between improvising ensembles and solitary studio practice, the project composes with small gestures and patient accumulation. Breath, bowed wood, analogue hum, and distant weather are treated as instruments. The result is music that rewards audik systems and rooms that reveal micro‑detail, preserve dynamics, and map space honestly.

Their new album Shattered Stone arrived today from Discus Music, and it’s another treat.

Frostlake’s work begins with presence. Tracks often open with a single human act – a vocal exhale, a bowed note, the scrape of a plate – then grow by adding layers of voice, analogue pads, and environmental sound. The aesthetic is neither lo-fi affectation nor glossy polish. Instead, it is a deliberate ethic: capture the accidental so that it becomes compositional. Live ensemble interplay is preserved; studio editing sculpts rather than erases spontaneous interactions. For the dedicated listener this produces three consistent pleasures. First, micro‑detail fidelity: sibilance texture, nearby breath, and reverb tails are recorded and left audible. Second, spatial nuance: multiple reverb spaces and panning decisions create a three‑dimensional interior that changes with seating position. Third, dynamic integrity: masters avoid heavy compression, so quiet moments remain fragile, and peaks retain natural transient energy. These are records that will reveal new features across repeated listens and across different playback chains.

Frostlake’s recurring images are elemental: ice, moonlight, bone, clouds. Those motifs are not only lyrical; they inform timbre and arrangement. Ice becomes brittle percussive detail and high‑frequency air. Moonlight translates into long, cool reverbs and sparse midrange textures. Bone suggests hollow resonance and woody decay. Cloudwork appears as pads that bloom and dissipate, or as field recordings that blur the edges of instruments. This symbolic palette supports a listening ritual. A Frostlake album resists background status. It asks for attention in short sessions where the listener can track micro events over time. The music’s small tensions – a reverb tail that fractures, the point where a field recording cancels a harmonic – become narrative points rather than production accidents.

Frostlake re‑teaches attention. The records are exercises in noticing: the way a reverb tail fractures at low volume, the small harmonic bloom when a pad meets a bowed instrument, the way a field recording rearranges a stereo image. For audiophiles the value is both aesthetic and practical. These recordings sharpen listening skills, expose system strengths and weaknesses, and reward the patient habit of returning to the same track in different setups. A successful Frostlake listening session changes the way you listen afterward: you begin to hear absence as form and small artefacts as architecture.

My first hearing of Frostlake music was the album The Weight of Clouds (2021).

Shattered Stone is Frostlake’s fourth album, recorded with Jan Todd (vocals, multi‑instruments), Terry Todd (bass, 12‑string) and keyboardist Andy Peake, and described as a blend of British psychedelia and folk‑rock, with eleven tracks that range from elegiac to driving arrangements. The Weight of Clouds is a double‑length release that leans into airy, dreamlike arrangements, broader instrumentation (cello, viola, clarinet, found sounds) and an expansive, spring‑like warmth compared with Frostlake’s icier previous material.

Shattered Stone foregrounds a stable trio configuration (Jan Todd, Terry Todd, Andy Peake) and lists an eclectic array of instruments – electric/acoustic guitar, cello, psaltery, guzheng, waterphones, Theremini, kalimba, found percussion and field recordings – signalling a deliberately variegated timbral approach. The Weight of Clouds also emphasises Jan Todd’s multi‑instrumentalism but features contributions from Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere players and a wider orchestral/folk palette (viola, clarinet, accordion, oboe, percussion, prominent bass lines and many field recordings) that produce a lighter, more pastoral sound overall.

Shattered Stone is eclectic and layered, moving between melancholic elegy and more propulsive, bass‑and‑drums moments; arrangements often let Jan’s vocals either soar above or cut through dense textures, suggesting mixes that prize both presence and power. The Weight of Clouds favours openness and space: production gives Jan’s voice an airy quality, with found sounds and subtle orchestration creating a diaphanous, less claustrophobic field than the darker Ice & Bone era – masters that emphasise motion and breath across a double‑length sequence.

Shattered Stone frames its material around introspective, elegiac vignettes and occasionally driving rock‑inflected pieces; the emotional register shifts between melancholia and hope, with structural variety across eleven songs. The Weight of Clouds leans into pastoral yearning and buoyant lightness; imagery of thaw and renewal recurs, so even its more ambivalent tracks carry a tonal airiness that moves listeners from winter into spring motifs.

Shattered Stone’s dense instrumentation and wider palette demand careful system balance: midrange clarity to keep Jan’s vocal centred, tight low‑mid control for the bass/drum propulsion, and sufficient resolution to reveal unusual timbres (guzheng, waterphones, Theremini) without blurring them into the pads. The Weight of Clouds benefits systems that reveal air and decay: its open mixes and field recordings reward speakers and rooms with good dispersion and low‑level resolution so reverb tails and delicate orchestral colours can bloom naturally.

On Shattered Stone listen for transitions where vocal lines move from foreground to cut‑through (this will expose midrange emphasis and presence-band tuning), and for unusual metallic/percussive textures that reveal mic choice and spatial placement. On The Weight of Clouds focus on the interplay of found sounds and acoustic instruments; note how light percussion and accordion/oboe colour the midrange and how reverb and field recordings open the stereo field.

Both albums celebrate Jan Todd’s compositional voice and multi‑instrumental control, use field recordings as structural elements rather than ornament, and reward repeated, attentive listening – micro‑detail and preserved dynamics are priorities across both releases. Each record balances improvisational interplay with studio curation: live‑feel ensemble moments persist, then are shaped in post to form distinct narrative arcs suitable for ritual listening sessions.

Choose The Weight of Clouds when you want airy spaciousness, pastoral textures and a mix that celebrates room and decay; it’s best for systems that reveal air and subtle orchestration. Choose Shattered Stone when you want a more eclectic, sometimes driving palette that foregrounds unusual instruments and sharper midrange contrasts; it will put low‑mid control and transient clarity under test. – Richard Varey, HI FI AUDITIONS https://hifiauditions.wordpress.com/2025/09/28/frostlake-in-the-sweet-spot/