Die seit mehr als zehn Jahren gemeinsam aktiven Lucy Railton und Kit Downes bringen Mitte August ein neues Album heraus, dessen Soundmaterial in der isländischen Skáholt-Kathedrale live auf Cello und der dortigen Kirchenorgel improvisiert wurde. “Subaerial” führt die von den Musikerinnen seit jeher praktizierte Zusammenführung unterschiedlicher Traditionen von Alter und Zeitgenössischer Musik bis Jazz und darüber hinaus fort. Das Album erscheint mit Artworkvon Maya Rochat und Liner Notes von Sophie Fetokaki auf LP und digital bei SN Variations.
“The duo decamped to Iceland and traveled around the southwest region of the country, visiting many churches before settling on the warm, resonant acoustics of Skáholt Cathedral. In the end they decided to create music spontaneously, embracing the immediacy and unmediated rapport they’d developed over the years. The performances are meditative and pensive and the phenomenal church organ at Skáholt allows Downes to produce a kaleidoscopic range of colors and tones, manipulating an instrument often dubbed the original synthesiser to produce sounds clearly related to much of Railton’s work with spatialisation, uncommon tunings, and electronics. It’s often hard to believe that the only post-production on Subaerial comes on the final track, “Of Becoming and Dying”, where the music seems to evaporate into the ether. In fact, the seven pieces were culled from the three-hour session with only edits breaking up bigger chunks of improvisation. The music flirts with drone and free improv, but it remains gloriously slippery, eschewing any single practice in favor of a more holistic conception of sonic exploration.” (SN Variations)