The Predatory Wasp

The Lithuanian ambient and electronic artist on the sacred power of a decades old Burial cut.

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Lithuanian producer Teatre has spent the last few years building a distinct corner of experimental electronic music that moves between ambient, wave, techno and more abstract forms. The project of Viktoras Urbaitis, his work has gradually shifted from the colder, urban feel of earlier releases into something softer and more reflective, while remaining rooted in Lithuania’s experimental scene.

His new album, All Constellations Weaving Into One, arrives via Amulet of Tears and feels intensely intimate. Written chronologically between September and November 2025 following a period of creative stillness, the record unfolds like a personal sketchbook, built from hazy synth textures, 90s sample fragments and field recordings captured around Vilnius’ Antakalnis district.

There are traces of Cocteau Twins, Vangelis and Grouper throughout, though the album never feels pinned to any one influence. Guest appearances from Ieva Semėnaitė and Eglė Pundzevičiūtė add another layer to its dreamlike atmosphere, particularly on the beautifully blurred “Perseide” and “Sapiegų Park”.

For his One Track Mind, Teatre has selected a painfully beautiful track from one of the most celebrated and influential artists of modern times.

Teatre on Burial – Forgive

It wasn’t easy to pick one track to write about – there are so many songs all across the spectrum from shoegaze to singer-songwriter to electronic (especially ones with lyrics) that I’m really connected to. But coincidence would have it that a few days ago – May 15th – was the 20th anniversary of Burial’s self-titled album debut, so I decided to pen a short tribute to one of my all-time favourite artists.

When people talk about Burial, it’s usually about common themes: dark, skeletal beats, haunting urban atmospheres, unorthodox sampling, all of which, of course, he does with superb mastery. But that still underrates his work. I think that what he did was unprecedented in the field of electronic music and in the realm of art in general. Burial creates narratives about memory, loss, transcendence & love woven from countless forms of media, culture, and environment. The experience of a Burial track is an emotional dive into the postmodern sound of the 21st century. Every digital transmission, every nostalgic beat becomes something personal: alarms on the street punctuate feeling states, fragmented vocal echoes reflect inner dialogues. This principally anonymous non-musician from London changed what recording artists can be, and I still think that few have come close.

Before he wrote novels in tracks on 2013’s “Rival Dealer”, before the anthemic stories of “Untrue”, there was the poem “Forgive” on his debut album. In my opinion it’s a perfect example of Burial’s singular sensitivity – creating an entire world from just a couple seconds of spliced audio. I never knew where the sounds were from, or what they’re supposed to be (though I may have read that one of the samples is from Brian Eno), and I still don’t know what the words are saying. I don’t think such work should be rationally or technically disseminated. To me this plays beyond words, like feelings clenching one’s throat, an endless thread of time & emotion unraveling.

I started really getting into alternative and electronic music around the time I was 15, when I moved from my hometown. The music of Burial had already been around, but for me discovering it was something otherworldly. At the same time, I immediately felt that it was something true to me, like it spoke about something that I was living through. I would be listening to the S/T and Untrue on loop, just walking around this new city that I knew nothing about, mostly isolated and terrified, with only these digital airwaves in my ears that seemed to know something real about me. I remember clearly observing at that time that this was music that spoke so much without words, something that I wanted to create.

“Forgive” wasn’t playing on repeat, it was for moments, sometimes years in between. I don’t remember most of them, but I can picture certain days, places, periods of time, series of events, people. The feeling doesn’t go away. It brings up something that was just a speck of dust in my memory, and it whirls into a hurricane. Sometimes I don’t even know what it is, the song just pulls it out. For me it’s not a song to put in a playlist, more like something sacred. There’s a video still online from 16 years ago where this track plays for a murmuration of birds across a clouded highway, it still really moves me.

Teatre – All Constellations Weaving Into One is out now on Amulet of Tears

https://amuletoftears.bandcamp.com/album/all-constellations-weaving-into-one