Staring wistfully out into the horizon through a slightly blurry double glazed window is one of life’s simple pleasures. Here’s six beatless electronic albums to soundtrack your next introspective train journey.

Helios – Domicile

Chances are, if you’ve watched TV in the past 15 years, you’ve heard one of Keith Kenniff’s works. A graduate of the esteemed Berklee College of Music, his work across multiple aliases has made him the darling of television executives. If you can remember that final scene of Normal People, then you’ll already understand,

Released in 2020 under his electronic moniker Helios, Domicile is a collection of pensive tracks recorded throughout the first lockdown period. The usual slow breakbeats which are commonplace in other Helios albums are swapped out entirely for sweeping pads and shimmering arpeggiators. The result is 49 minutes of blissful ambience which takes you straight into a familiar safe space of warm comfort.

Yotto – Erased Dreams

Finnish producer Yotto will be a name familiar to anyone who listened to Anjunadeep records back in the mid 2010s. His early work gained him a strong reputation within the euphoria obsessed deep house scene, but in recent years, as his own Odd One Out label grew, his output increased and the quality declined. Quite a bit.

And then seemingly out of nowhere in 2022, he released Erased Dreams. Clocking in at thirty minutes, it runs as one continuous piece separated into eight tracks. The guy clearly has an ear for ambient warmth, as the album floats seamlessly through lush pads and soothing vocal hums. It’s the sort of sounds which bring back memories of that cherished euro summer holiday from your childhood. Pure nostalgia, bottled up.

Acronym – Malm

The sounds of Stockholm have never been so present in the works of Acronym, and indeed his ex affiliates at Northern Electronics. These guys are no strangers to ambient work, and there are almost too many to pick from when looking to conjure up images of snow falling around you in a dark forest in Sweden.

Released on Field Records back in 2017, Malm is one of the more emotionally ambiguous albums on this list. It moves through tracks which have an obvious melancholy permeating through them, into ones which shimmer with a more pensive and mysterious energy. Definitely one for the winter months.

BLNDR – L’Observatoire

French producer Tom Huthwohl is another artist who is just as much at home slinking between the shadows of light and darkness. His many releases on fellow Swedish label Hypnus records show the same ability to traverse between slow, sludgy techno and darker, pastoral ambient.

Released in 2018, L’Observatoire is a collection of nine tracks both inspired and recorded throughout Huthwohl’s time spent travelling across the globe. The album track list makes no secret of this, and the result is a less assuming, more sonic challenging album of immense beauty.

Hammock – Longest Year

Another American (or rather, American’s) who have perfected the craft of Film and TV ready electronic soundscapes are Nashville based duo Hammock. Both former members of an alternative rock band, they shifted into the electronic space with a distinctive sound, clearly owing to their shoegaze and neoclassical origins.

Without doubt the most cinematic of the albums in this list, the music doesn’t speak to any one emotive direction, instead gliding through dreamlike compositions in a post-electronic reverie, all while feeling underpinned with a hopeful optimism. Don’t worry, things will work themselves out.

Sam KDC – Late Night Innominate, Vol. 1

British artist Samuel Wood made a name for himself in the 2010’s as one of the brightest emerging producers on the legendary drum’n’bass label Samurai music. Known for his darker take on the genre, Wood’s DNB material certainly knows how to build a sonic world, even if it is one full of dread and uncertainty.

But, as with the other producers mentioned in this list, he is also adept at creating soundscapes of gorgeous, reflective radiance. Late Night Innominate makes no secret of its intentions to be a pensive release, as it unfurls across 42 minutes of contemplative electronic swirls.