As the first of a bunch of new releases in 2020, Austrian musician Abby Lee Tee is back with the second part of his “Imaginary Friends” series on Czaszka Records, drawing immersive little pictures of (re)imagined places and their inhabitants, or rather, the other way round.

While imaginary companions are still mistakenly associated with deficits or even mental health issues most of the time, (researchers say that) they can be an important way to develop creativity and coping skills, not only for children. Beside bedding your cuddly toys for the night, it just feels natural to build them a sonic home too, twisting everyday-life sounds as well as acoustic instruments and arcane field recordings, always exploring the boundaries of human perceptions of nature and artificial worlds.

Expect obscure soundscapes full of quarrelling hedgehogs, startled owls, squeaking piglets, alienated sheep, cracking ice, gurgling streams and whistling tea pots.