One Little Independent
Scottish-Portuguese sound artist Shhe follows up 2019’s self-titled album with a long, slow suite of pieces constructed with sounds gathered on a residency in Iceland. The tranquillity and peace of the fjords very much inhabits this unassuming but engaging album, the four sections rising above ambience with drones that lift the listener, giving a bird’s eye view of a landscape lost under a frozen carapace.
The sense of space and the lightness of touch is sublime, with
minuscule tonal changes causing differing perspectives. What could be vocals emerge at points and then retreat like the annual receding of ice sheets, leaving subtly altered details and plenty of room for the listener’s imagination to visualise. The sides drift into one another, deeper tones indicating a change of emphasis with sharp, relatively harsh electronic edges affecting the gradually revolving soundscape, an ebb and flow of the most meditative kind.
Sounds of water evince a gentler movement and as
the drone revolves, so the found sounds are secreted and appear like jewels, sparkling on the stalactites of caves deep underground. A slow melancholy drip sounds endlessly distant, pushing the other more subtle sounds into a haze that is barely noticeable. The gentle progress and attention to the tiniest detail is impressive and after a few spins, the suite starts to offer fresh opportunities.
You only need to shut your eyes, lie back and allow DÝRA to wash around you.
-Mr Olivetti-
Scottish-Portuguese sound artist Shhe follows up 2019’s self-titled album with a long, slow suite of pieces constructed with sounds gathered on a residency in Iceland. The tranquillity and peace of the fjords very much inhabits this unassuming but engaging album, the four sections rising above ambience with drones that lift the listener, giving a bird’s eye view of a landscape lost under a frozen carapace.
