Martyn Bates bringt mit “Summer, Cat’s Cradle” das dritte Album seines Eyeless In Gaza-Nachfolgeprojektes Kodax Strophes heraus. Es entstand solo mit dem Einsatz von Stimme, elektrischer Gitarre, Becken, Kybd, Percussion, Tapes und Radio. Der Musiker nennt im Begleittext eine Art katharticher Intention als Grundmovens für die Entstehung des Albums: “I’ve been feeling kinda disconnected lately, due to lots of personal reasons that it isn’t really the time or place to go into – & so, when I got to the studio I found that I wanted to reflect that feeling – make something positive, cathartic. I wanted to capture it all by making something painterly/splashy – aleatoric, riddled with chance: improvisational, with the occasional found sound – & yet still full with plenty of lyrical/pastoral SONG, for all that. Music & Words & Sound for emptying dreams to: music to free-associate by”.

Die Vielgestaltigkeit des Resultats kam auch für Bates eher überraschend: “Turned out to feel pretty psychedelic, pretty damn folk-punky, overall. Also, to my surprise all this music, and all these melodies, they came out a lot ‘richer’, the whole thing presenting itself as quite the expressive/romantic animal throughout”. Die Diskrepanzen zwischen der inneren und der äußeren Welt sind ein wesentlichen Thema, das sich auch in den Texten der Songs niederschlägt. “Listening back, I can also see that both music & lyrics could well be said to be about the will, the actualizing of events & energies. It would seem to be all about FOCUS/fixing the picture, making good the reality: leaning to know/learning to become conversant with & learn something essential about the self”.

Auch zusammenfassend äußert er seine eigene Überraschung: “Altogether I have to say – this music is a hell of a lot gentler than I imagined it be when I was writing & recording the thing. Yes, that’s it: this is an album offering SONGS & SOUNDS of unashamedly LOW-FI, INDUSTRIAL-PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDSCAPING – with a whole other thing happening as well”. Es erscheint am 6. Januar auf CD und im Download bin Hive-Arc Recordings.