Ø – Sysivalo (2LP + CD)

Sysivalo is Mika Vainio’s final, unguarded message: a delicate mosaic of intimate soundworlds, rendered by his own hands and completed by trusted collaborators to become a luminous farewell. Across twenty miniature movements, it conjures a terrain of metaphysical tension, casting shadows and light in equal measure.

Named from Finnish sysi (“darkness”) and valo (“light”), the record occupies a threshold between the weight of night and the glimmer of dawn. Its affect is closest to Kantamoinen in both emotional gravity and restraint, yet here Vainio pushes further into skeletal minimalism, allowing melody and memory to surface through silence.

From resonant drones and spectral blushes, through pitch‑bent guitar shards and subtle bass pulses, to its muted beat on “T‑Bahn,” Sysivalo surprises with contrapuntal sparkle as often as it withholds. In its final movements — Sysivalo, Ursa, Loputon — the darkness itself breathes light. In these quiet endings, one hears not an absence but a profound presence.

• A1 Etude 1 3:06
• A2 Etude 2 2:37
• A3 Etude 3 2:41
• A4 Etude 4 3:50
• A5 Etude 5 2:36
• B1 Sylvannus 3:06
• B2 Etude 6 2:50
• B3 Etude 7 3:05
• B4 Katko 2:46
• B5 Kangastus 2:58
• C1 T-Bahn 3:38
• C2 Uusikuu 2:37
• C3 Pimennys 2:59
• C4 Aine 3:13
• C5 Anthem 1:24
• D1 Dual 3:15
• D2 Kohtalo 1:27
• D3 Sysivalo 3:12
• D4 Ursa 3:24
• D5 Loputon 3:15

FULL PLAYLIST:

RIYL: Alva Noto · Fennesz · Laetitia Sadier solo works · early Thomas Köner · Kantamoinen

Format: 2LP (includes full album CD inside)
Genre: Experimental / Minimalism / Electronic
Label: Sähkö Recordings 
Country: Finland
Year: 2025