MH002: Rose Keeler-Schaffeler – Universal Language
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Before we learn language, we learn the voice.
Universal Language is the second release on Magic Hollow and an exploration of the voice before song and before speech. Written and recorded during pregnancy and early motherhood, Rose Keeler-Schaffeler’s album draws inspiration from the earliest forms of human communication: coos, cries, sighs and instinctive vocalisations that precede language yet already contain the seeds of music.
Best known as Keel Her, the cult DIY songwriter, producer and NTS Radio DJ whose fiercely independent body of work helped define a generation of bedroom pop, Rose reveals a strikingly different side of her musical practice here. Produced by Daniel O’Sullivan, Universal Language places the human voice at its centre, treating it not as a vehicle for lyrics but as the raw material from which music, language and relationships emerge.
With the exception of a handful of bass vocal parts performed by O’Sullivan, every voice heard on the album is Rose’s own.
MH001 Maston & Foat – Moving Images
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Moving Images is a collaborative album by composers Frank Maston and Greg Foat, and marks the inaugural release on Magic Hollow, the new imprint founded by Daniel O’Sullivan. Rooted firmly in the tradition of classic library music, the album draws from the deep, elegant end of the form: vintage keyboards, analogue synthesis, drum machines, and melodic economy, realised with clarity, warmth, and restraint.
Recorded in February 2025 at Ritmo Studios in Leysin, Switzerland, high in the Alps, Moving Images unfolds as a suite of finely balanced cues, defined by restraint, texture, and a discerning sense of tone. Swiss bassist Elie Ghersinu features prominently throughout the album, his rich and fluid bass tone providing a continuous anchor.
The record draws inspiration from the golden age of European library music, channeling the spirit of De Wolfe and Bruton releases such as Alan Hawkshaw’s Frontiers Of Science, the Push Button albums by Karl Jenkins and Mike Ratledge, Edmondo Giuliani’s refined orchestrations, and Alessandro Alessandroni’s Romance and Drama for Coloursound. Rather than pastiche, Moving Images internalises the discipline and elegance of these recordings, translating their grammar into a contemporary context.
Coming soon…
Magic Hollow took shape in 2024 when I was invited to curate a series for the legendary German production music library Sonoton, following the completion of my first large-scale ensemble album, Eros. What began as a one-off commission quickly grew into a platform for bringing together artists I admire, each exploring their own angles on the possibilities of library music.
At Magic Hollow, library music is treated as something more than background, a way for sound to hold space, to accentuate and sometimes transform what it touches. Its economy encourages miniature forms, each a small world in itself, and its strangeness lies in the unexpected connections that appear when those worlds are heard together. In this sense, the catalogue isn’t designed around genre or identity but around openness, a series of encounters that might seem incidental yet resonate with their own curious weight. As it grows, Magic Hollow will continue to invite artists to explore this space, expanding the archive of what we like to think of as Deep Wallpaper: music that quietly alters the atmosphere, embedding itself in memory while leaving room for whatever else may unfold.
DOS, September 2025