We Speak Music

Alaskan Tapes and Blu Miles Unveil Collaborative Album ‘Blank Slate, Open Space’

Published

5 months ago

June 12, 2026

Canadian ambient maestro Alaskan Tapes and Portland-based multi-instrumentalist Blu Miles have officially unveiled their collaborative seven-track album, Blank Slate, Open Space. Led by the serene, immersive lead single “In-Cloud (feat. Ann Annie),” the project arrives as a quiet yet powerful statement in modern ambient composition, blurring the boundaries between geographic distance and creative connection.

What began as a simple digital exchange between piano and saxophone quickly evolved into something far more expansive. Despite being created across more than 4,000 kilometers, the album took shape through a fluid back-and-forth of ideas. Stems were shared remotely before Blu Miles traveled from Portland to Toronto to complete the project in person.

The resulting record is remarkably seamless. Listeners are left unable to distinguish which moments were created a world apart and which were born side by side; instead, what remains is an undeniable sense of closeness, presence, and shared creative intuition.

At the heart of the release is the standout single “In-Cloud,” featuring celebrated multi-instrumentalist Ann Annie. The track gently expands the project’s sonic palette, weaving together piano, saxophone, guitar, and clarinet into a soft, drifting composition that feels completely weightless and meditative.

Built from an initial set of piano stems, the piece evolved through layered contributions—guitar lines are stretched into warm, textured atmospheres while the woodwinds are transformed into pulsing, wave-like forms. The final result is both organic and subtly digital, an ambient piece that breathes, swells, and dissolves in real time.

Across its concise 20-minute runtime, Blank Slate, Open Space unfolds like a series of fleeting moments, each track resembling a postcard from a shared creative sanctuary. There is a quiet honesty maintained throughout, giving the listener the distinct impression of being invited directly into the room to witness the music as it happens.

The album moves effortlessly between profound stillness and subtle, cinematic expansion without ever breaking its fragile, carefully held atmosphere:

The Reinterpretation: The tracklist features a delicate re-envisioning of “Oversky” (originally by Luke Howard and Nadje Noordhuis), grounding the record in contemporary neo-classical excellence.

The Cinematic Swell: Tracks like “Rosewood” build an emotional gravity that feels entirely natural, never relying on forced production tricks.

The overarching project reflects a philosophy of openness and release—letting go of rigid structures and commercial expectations in favor of pure instinct and presence. It is music intentionally designed not to demand a listener’s attention, but to hold space for it. As the outside world fades, the intricate interplay between keys and reed instruments creates an environment of calm reflection, inviting the audience to slow down, breathe, and simply exist within the sound.

With “In-Cloud” serving as the perfect gateway, Blank Slate, Open Space captures the absolute essence of what ambient music can achieve: connection without boundaries, stillness without emptiness, and beauty without excess.

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Doja Cat Brings the Tour Ma Vie World Tour to Scotiabank Arena on November 25

Published

16 minutes ago

November 2, 2026

Leo Bodei

Portrait of Doja Cat with long blonde hair against a dark background.

Doja Cat. Photo courtesy of Doja Cat on Instagram.

Doja Cat brings her Tour Ma Vie World Tour to Toronto on Wednesday, November 25, with a 7:30 p.m. show at Scotiabank Arena. It is one of the last stops on the biggest headlining run of her career, and it lands in the middle of a heavy week for the building.

The tour supports Vie, her fifth studio album, released in September 2025. The record is an 1980s inspired turn back toward pop, led by the singles “Jealous Type” and “Gorgeous,” and the live show has been built as a full scale arena production. Latto joins the bill as special guest for the entire North American leg, which runs 31 dates from the October 1 opener in Detroit to the December 1 finale at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Toronto gets the show near the end of the run, with Boston on November 23 before it and Montreal on November 27 after it. By the time she reaches Scotiabank Arena, the production will have played more than twenty North American arenas, on top of earlier legs across Oceania, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Earlier in November the tour also plays Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Atlanta.

Fans have been getting a look inside the tour straight from Doja Cat herself. She has been filming the run on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, posting point of view footage from backstage, soundchecks and life on the road, so the Toronto crowd will see a show that has been documented almost night by night. Tickets for November 25 are on sale through Ticketmaster. With the Garden shows in New York closing the tour one week later, the Toronto date is one of the final chances to see this production before the run wraps.