Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe – ‘Liminal’ album review: A stirring chapter in the pair’s ambient folk wanderings
The third in their collaborative series, Liminal sees lauded ambient producer Brian Eno and conceptual composer Beatie Wolfe join forces once again to deliver the third act of their experimental triptych with Verve Records.
The Skinny: Following predecessors Lateral’s “space music” and Luminal’s “dream music”, Eno and Wolfe meld their respective strengths to round off their thematic wander of the aural unknown with Liminal’s “dark matter”, a singular record that eschews the former’s twofer offering that’s all the more stirring on both thematic and musical levels.
Where Eno’s ambient wanderings felt like aural retreads from much of his career on his Lateral half, here such celestial washes glow with sparkling beauty against Wolfe’s plaintive vocals, providing a mutual harmony that could lack previously. At its best, Liminal can score a deep and moving plane of mysterious intrigue and divine light, pulling toward some grand ephiphany without ever feeling lofty or self-serious.
It’s the perfect and welcome, suspected, conclusion to the series, Wolfe and Eno’s experimental convergence penetrating an emotive sphere of meditative rumination, both uncharted yet soothingly reassuring. Between them, Liminal unveils a strange beckoning power, inhabiting a fascinating digital realm of cerebral terrain.
The Verdict: Beyond mere pastel flourish and snooze-inducing soundscapes, Wolfe provides a much-needed template for Eno’s sonic conjurings, the pair shaping their Liminal experience that floats in tandem with deep spirituality and flecks of mottled humour with aplomb.
Defining Song: ‘The Last to Know’
Release date: October 10th, 2025 | Producer: Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe | Label: Verve Records
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