Barbara Ellison - Murduchann (Siren Sea Songs) [Unsounds Records 093]

Put out on the longplay circuit as cat.no. 083 of the Unsounds Records label is "Murduchann (Siren Sea Songs)", the new sonic outing by Barbara Ellison which is the follow up to her 2021-released "Cybersongs" album for the label. Rolled out over the course of roughly 72 minutes the Irish composer presents a total of eleven new pieces which, according to the accompanying promo sheet, through '...layered vocal transformations summon siren songs and sonic phantoms from within the source'. With this being said Barbara Ellison opens with the spiralling, seemingly electro-acoustic intro of "Idir" which leads into ethereal and angelic, yet emotionally uneasy choirs which, at least in parts, seem to be played, recorded and processed in reverse before being accompanied by subsonic pulses of sparse Post Bassmusic-referencing nature whereas the glitched out reverse loops of "Glor" bring forth a rhythmic fever dream as a score for extended explorations of the backrooms before "Run" and its fogged out upsweeps alongside fragmented vocal cuts act as a monolithic sonic frame of existence, a bubble of pure being outside of physics, space, time and the natural world within the universe. With "Draiocht" we're back in a realm of rhythmic loops which are starting to glitch and fall apart over an extended runtime of 15+ minutes, framed by echoes of alarming pulses and subtle sonic movements at the low frequency fringes of human perception alongside ever shifting contrapuntal layers creating an interesting interplay of polyrhythmic nature whereas "Geasa" seems to live off eerie textures and ghostly, seemingly also reversed respiratory sounds before "Fiantas", the second extended composition on "Murduchann", falls into a maelstrom of mind-numbing, ever spiralling and surely hypnotic hollowness, opening psychic - and probably psychotic - voids within those not prepared to enter a swelling maelstrom of layered quasi-syllables and syncopated non-vocalisms, dubbed out (Un)Ambient and jubilant outerdimensional choirs. Furthermore we see "Claochlu" on a surprisingly clean and scientific tip in its intro sequence before the jubilant, yet more polyrhythmic approach of its predecessor finds a continuation atop a raw and simple Post Rhythm Industrial reminiscent foundation followed by the cold exoterrestrial transmissions found in "Teorainn" which is a rather unsettling, in parts Cold Ambient-leaning as well as the emotionally most intense affair on this album. Subsequently following is the Glacial Ambient x Cold Ambient beauty of "Aisling" resembling a fascinating sonic whiteout whilst "Si" caters rather comforting and solemn harmonic arrangements working their way up to a heavy and dense industrial'esque climax whereas "Ceo" as a final cut comes full circle in terms of ethereal choirs and slightly off-kilter harmonics. One for an Avantgarde informed audience, yet a highly interesting and unique take on - in terms of source material - vocal driven Deep Listening Music.

Album artwork on Instagram!