Rameses III: I Could Not Love You More

I Could Not Love You More may be the most mesmerizing recording yet from the U.K. ambient/improv group Rameses III. The cover art and title present a substantial front: thoughts of landscapes, of the past. This is not the typical face of ambient instrumental music, which sometimes seems like an intellectual exercise. Rameses III remind us of the way music like this can be emotional, can conjure up deep feelings in unexpected ways. These songs circle, dabble, and float. They create warm blankets of sound that don’t just cover but move us in many ways internally. The titles project hope — “We Shall Never Sing of Sorrow”, “All Shall Be Well” — and landscapes of clouds and water. It’s perhaps a look back to childhood places of memory (one title: “Across the Lake Is Where My Heart Shines”), but the music is not simple nostalgia. It pierces deep inside through pretty surfing over gently probing melodies. A synth sheen will emulate place, and then a guitar plays a single melody underneath, taking us — somewhere.