Shape Navigator album 'Journal' out now
“Sounds like a Craven Faults record might if, rather than being produced in an old mill in Yorkshire, it was instead made on the Maunsell World War Two sea forts in the Thames estuary”
ELECTRONIC SOUND
“A nuanced collection that sparks turbulence one moment and tranquillity the next. What a fantastic voyage”
PROG
“Filmic and expansive, yet intimate and personal, every sound is lovingly created and captured, then blended together into a seamless instrumental electronic album”
OUTSIDELEFT
Electronic excellence from Kent artist Peter Coyte (AKA Shape
Navigator) is a vastly experienced artist whose career has included collaborations with Seal and David McAlmont.
This debut album of nine electronic compositions feels like a triumphant expression of Coyte's artistic life. The album's impressive energy is typified by Tread Lightly On The Planet/Girl Taken, where thick washes of sound create a compelling impact, full of complex tonal layers.
While the compositions arose from improvisation, all the tracks have a fluent structural logic. Margate - Blue Lights exemplifies this approach, with its deft evocation of a coastal mood that is mysterious and hypnotic. A notably strong emotional force pervades the album, as on Greta (Estuary Waves), with its pulsing, percussive rhythms. Journal closes memorably with Fourth Portal, where the surging sounds feel elegiac and poignant.
RECORD COLLECTOR
ELECTRONIC SOUND
“A nuanced collection that sparks turbulence one moment and tranquillity the next. What a fantastic voyage”
PROG
“Filmic and expansive, yet intimate and personal, every sound is lovingly created and captured, then blended together into a seamless instrumental electronic album”
OUTSIDELEFT
Electronic excellence from Kent artist Peter Coyte (AKA Shape
Navigator) is a vastly experienced artist whose career has included collaborations with Seal and David McAlmont.
This debut album of nine electronic compositions feels like a triumphant expression of Coyte's artistic life. The album's impressive energy is typified by Tread Lightly On The Planet/Girl Taken, where thick washes of sound create a compelling impact, full of complex tonal layers.
While the compositions arose from improvisation, all the tracks have a fluent structural logic. Margate - Blue Lights exemplifies this approach, with its deft evocation of a coastal mood that is mysterious and hypnotic. A notably strong emotional force pervades the album, as on Greta (Estuary Waves), with its pulsing, percussive rhythms. Journal closes memorably with Fourth Portal, where the surging sounds feel elegiac and poignant.
RECORD COLLECTOR
Journal is a deeply personal sonic diary, capturing two years of spontaneous creation and exploration on synthesisers. Each track originates from a live improvisation built from unrehearsed, unedited performances where instinct shapes structure and emotion guides sound.
Created during a period marked by difficult personal life events, Journal reflects the turbulence, vulnerability, and quiet resilience that emerged along the way. Moments of heaviness seep into the droning harmonics and uncertainty pulses through shifting sequences. Flashes of clarity surface in resonant chords that cut through the haze. These performances became a refuge—an immediate way to translate complicated feelings into sound.
Created during a period marked by difficult personal life events, Journal reflects the turbulence, vulnerability, and quiet resilience that emerged along the way. Moments of heaviness seep into the droning harmonics and uncertainty pulses through shifting sequences. Flashes of clarity surface in resonant chords that cut through the haze. These performances became a refuge—an immediate way to translate complicated feelings into sound.
credits
released February 27, 2026
Synths and electronic instruments - Peter Coyte
Margate - Blue lights features Martin Elliott on guitar and Helen Thomas on Cello
Artwork by @diz_qo
Synths and electronic instruments - Peter Coyte
Margate - Blue lights features Martin Elliott on guitar and Helen Thomas on Cello
Artwork by @diz_qo