Lake Effect: Quiet Music From Toronto is a compilation of tracks from composers working in the fields of ambient, neoclassical, and electronic music. It showcases a musical side of the city that isn’t as glittery and apparent as many; its sound is mapped out in syths and guitars, violins and other low key instrumentation.
The album was released on June 19, 2026 on the Imaginary North label, and is available on vinyl, CD, and as a digital download.
You can help celebrate the album on June 25 at a release party at Tapestry in Toronto’s Kensington Market.
The Album
Many of the artists on the album have been working in the field for decades, while others are relative newcomers to the scene. Contributors include familiar names, offering tracks inspired by the many faces of Toronto.
The composers take a wide variety of approaches to the concept of “quiet” music, some using acoustic instruments like violins and guitars, other electronic, and others still using electroacoustic hybrid sounds. The tone ranges from darker and moody to bright and optimistic.
They includes Jessica Deutsch (violinist/contributor with Lemon Bucket Orchestra, Leif Vollebekk, and others), and her string-driven it’s snowing ice, the Asian-inspired sounds of Night Market by Drones Over Dufferin (David from Fembots’ ambient country project), and Ben McCarthy’s electronic meditation magic star REDUX.
Other contributors include Kilometre Club, R Grunwald (keyboardist for Donovan Woods and Good Lovelies), and dreamSTATE a veteran of Toronto’s live ambient scene for more than three decades.
Jessica Deutsch’s it’s snowing ice:
The full tracklist includes:
- inchoate: nefer
- Gollden: when i started to bloom
- Sun Rain: May
- dreamSTATE: Beltline Spectre
- anthéne: wallace emerson
- JICS: Concetta (In North York At Dawn)
- Kyle Gottschalk: Brick By Brick (Excerpt)
- Kilometre Club: This River I Step In Is Not The River I Stand In
- W L C: Stars Over Pond
- Jessica Deutsch: it’s snowing ice
- Drones Over Dufferin: Night Market
- Ben McCarthy: magic star [REDUX]
- ÏÏÏ: thirteen
- Adrian Berry and Ely Lyonblum: Listening Otherwise
LV caught up with producer Daniel Field to talk about the music.
Daniel Field: The Interview
How did Field, who put the album together, come up with such a diverse array of artists and approaches?
“I knew most of these people already,” Field explains. “We’ve been putting together a live show called Ambient Afternoon for a few months.” Ambient Afternoon is a monthly family-friendly event that takes place at Society Clubhouse on College Street.
Last July, Field made up a list of potential contributors and contacted them with his idea of a compilation album. “Quite a few artists were able to take the concept and come up with something that they’d want to do,” he says. “I wanted to land with at least 10 to 12.”
The Toronto theme was an interesting one to examine.
“It’s interesting, because when you look at the histories of modern and popular music, there is electronic music in certain spaces,” Field notes. He cites house music in Chicago as an example. “There is a sound associated with geography,” he says.
“I don’t think there is a certain Toronto sound in ambient music,” he says. That’s not to say it’s not part of the larger music scene. “I think that there are a number of artists interested in exploring these quiet [sounds],” he says. The link to the Toronto theme was intended to sound intentional, all the same.
Ambient Music in Toronto
As Field explains, while much of quiet or ambient music exists online, one of Imaginary North’s goals is to support live quiet music shows. As such, the release party will be a debut for some of the artists.
“There are [some] that are working live for the first time.”
While its very nature doesn’t scream from the rooftops, he points out that quiet music is hardly an undiscovered niche.
“The pure ambient music, in the sense of the anonymous playlist, is extremely popular all over the world.” Most streaming services, including Spotify, offer playlists of music produced by uncredited and anonymous library producers that is designed to act as background sound for everyday activities. Field would like the people who love that music to know that they can find it much closer to home. “Here are the local artists,” he says. “Shop local, even when you can get something all over the world.”
The live events Imaginary North hosts are meant to be cozy and friendly. “It’s trying to make a space that’s both easy and welcome for [aficionados] and both casual listeners as well.” He wants to cultivate a scene that’s outside the usual music venues. “It’s not really meant for a bar.”
Drones Over Dufferin’s Night Market:
What Is Quiet Music?
“I specifically wanted to call the compilation quiet music rather than ambient music,” Daniel says. It allows for incorporating other genres, including the neoclassical elements, electronic music, and more experimental sounds. “I think I wanted to broaden the scope,” he adds.
“Quiet music is for late nights.” The album’s 15 tracks range from just over one minute to 6:20 in length for a total of about 45 minutes of music. “This is encouraging active listening. Keeping it concise, and keeping it fresh.”
When it comes to Toronto, the average person isn’t likely to think of quiet music. That’s partly why he chose the theme. “I think because, if you asked anybody from anywhere else in the country, what adjective they’d use to describe Toronto, they’d say loud,” he says.
“Those are not what people first associate with Toronto, but they’re very much there. Here’s what’s happening on a quieter level, once you peel back the traffic on the Gardiner.”
Despite popular opinion, Field points out the wide diversity of music that is actually being made in the city, much more than simply rock and pop. “This doesn’t really scratch the surface of all the things that are out there. I think to me it’s a little bit to scale; [there are] touring bands that bring in 15,000,” he notes. “If you can fill 25 in the Southern Cross [room] at Tranzac, it has a different feeling. If I have 20 people or 30 people, it feels like wow, these are people who are here to listen.”
Ambient Afternoon and Imaginary North’s other events encourage more than passive listening. “We bring out Soduko or a colouring table,” he says. The audience, in other words, can be doing something else entirely while still listening to the music, just as they would with playlists at home or at work.
“Why not listen to it in a live context? I think people are so surprised at how exciting that feels.” As the artist plays, the audience becomes an active part of the atmosphere of the event.
“It’s been a big component for me, in making this music, is trying to bring it in the real world,” he says.
“It’s been really fun. You bring out all the introverts,” he laughs.
dreamSTATE’s Beltline Spectre:
Album & Release Party
The album release event on June 25 will feature 13 artists in five different sets, including two or three artists improvising together.
“It’ll be our way to jump into the summer and celebrate this kind of music.”
- Find details and tickets for the live album release party on June 25 at Tapestry in Kensington Market [HERE].
- Find the album for purchase and/or download [HERE].
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