Snufmumriko – Sekunder, Eoner

Dronarivm

Russian label Dronarivm has released the latest offering from Swedish sound sculptor Ingmar Wennerberg on a beautifully packaged cassette limited to forty-five copies. The images on Snufmumriko‘s Sekunder, Eoner‘s cover depict etchings of ancient flying machines and the drifting drone of opener “Kasta Loss”, emanating from the speakers like an elongated sigh with its submerged, barely audible beat, would be the perfect accompaniment for these esoteric and fragile machines.

It is distant yet mindful and soporific, but with just enough life to prevent stasis. Electronic sighs and whispers penetrate the haze like angels touching down for a brief spell and as it wafts to a halt, the following piece “Jordeliv” continues with even more transience. A hint of a trickle of water and dispersed piano droplets generate ripples against the constant shelter of drone, abandoned somewhere, rain drifting on the gentle breeze making its way through cracks in the roof.

There are echoes of the David Sylvian and Holger Czukay‘s recordings and their experiments in space and suppression, with the slow movement echoing the sensation of sitting in the barn, looking out into the twilight waiting for the rain to pass. It feels that as the album moves on, so it becomes sparser. A deeper resonance reacts to the piano, but you are consciously awaiting the notes and half expecting them to dissipate in the background hum.

No beats, just more drift, opens the second side in the exhalations and sounds of distant movement that make up the title track. It is the most vibrant so far, which isn’t saying much, but the sense of gravity loss is inescapable. The sensation of being underground aboard a slowed-down tube train is comforting, but the howl of the rails and the addition of drums changes the mood. Elsewhere, the sound of birds and spinning bottletops enlivens the dream state of “Ett Andra Hem” like a rainforest on autopilot with a slight progression or regression, depending on which position you inhabit to start with.

Sekunder, Eoner is an ebb and flow of an album with muffled underwater elegance, unknown sounds echoing and refracting, travelling great distances from mystery sources. A watery veil gradually draws down upon us as dolphins speak and toes are dipped into the sea, dangling from a drifting craft until everything peters out and we are alone with the memory of that drifting sensation.

-Mr Olivetti-