“Water doesn’t have only one way. It has infinite ways, it takes whatever way it can, it is utterly opportunistic, and all life on Earth depends on this passive, yielding, uncertain, adaptable, changeable element.” (Ursula le Guin)
Two years in the making, my new album “in all her forms (sound meditations vol. 2)” is finally out and I am thrilled to finally share it with you. It’s out digitally everwhere you stream/buy music; on CD and cassette via Constellation Tatsu, and I’m doing a vinyl preorder which will ship in late January.
Following on from pt. 1 of the “why I made this album” – for those of you who missed it here
Once I decided on the theme (water in all “her” forms) and the format (a one hour, continuous, sound bath with electronic elements), I spent days, sifting through all the field recordings I’ve ever taken – collating all the sounds of water that I’d captured in the preceding 5 years. Noticing a glaring omission of snow (hard to capture, being in a country with very little snow) and underwater (I don’t have a hydrophone), I reached out to my Northern Hemispherian buddies, marine eyes and Brad Deschamps (anthène) to help out. The other recordings I chose, came from very special places I’d been over the last few years – Mallacoota, Marengo, Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef – which is where we continue the story with track 2 – “coral seas”.
I visited Gabar/Fitzroy Island in September 2022 with my husband and daughter. A beautiful, small island in the Great Barrier Reef, it’s a picture perfect vision of palm trees and white beaches. But that’s not what captivated me most. From the moment I stepped onto the shores, the first thing I noticed was the magical tinkling sound that accompanied every wave. The small, broken pieces of white coral, smashing against each other as the water met the shoreline.
This field recording formed the basis of this piece – one which needed to be deeply relaxing and restful. A point in the sound bath where the nervous system begins to settle and the brainwaves begin to slow. This is where the listener can begin to let go.
instruments: Monolina (Monochord) harp + effects pedals, vocals + Avalanche Run delay/reverb, Moog Mother32 bass, Teenage Engineering Op1 Field synth.
On the surface, this song is very similar to something I’d do in a sound bath. But with one difference – the addition of electronic elements. Vocal effects, synth and my trusty Moog Mother32 bass synth. This was me finally bringing to life what I sometimes hear while I’m doing a sound bath.
You see, often I’ll be doing an acoustic, sound bath and I can clearly hear a bass drone or synth line in my head. I clearly hear it. But you guys can’t. I’m having this whole experience that the other people in the room aren’t having. So here, with this album, was my opportunity to finally let you guys hear what I hear – adding in all those missing instruments and effects.
Oh, one final tidbit for you. This album was originally 11 tracks. “desert frogs reawaken” was the last song. But then, my meditation teacher Laura Poole sent me a message, saying she had a phone recording of the source of the Ganges, in the Himalayas, asking whether I’d like it. As if I could say no to that.
And so, 11 tracks became 12.
More on the other tracks to come in the next week or so.
Meanwhile, a huge shoutout to James Bernard, Ambient Mountain House for mixing and mastering the album too. This is the first release I’ve not mixed myself but by the time I got to the mixing stage, I knew I needed a second pair of ears to bring it to life the way I heard it in my head. And James has the best ears of anyone I know. Period.
And to Steve at Constellation Tatsu for supporting the release and being so enthusiastic from the very first moment I sent it to him.
Can’t wait to see those of you with tickets for Tender on Saturday – alas it’s sold out – but hopefully you can make it to one of the other shows. Info here (note: gigs indicated as “sound baths” are acoustic, meditation sessions whereas the others are gigs)
For those of you overseas? I have something planned for you too…. more next week :)
much much much love guys
xxxx Phoebe
