lav & purl: a state of becoming

ltd stock. A State Of Becoming began life in the summer of 2014, when Lav (Christopher Landin) was traveling Greece and began recording the sounds surrounding him in remote, desolate places of nature. With a quiet mind, Christoper's awareness of the surrounding sounds would increase together with a feeling of the interconnectedness of all things. This concept is central to the album, being expressed by the presence of the field recordings, as the foundation from which each track grows and extends. The tiniest detail, chirp, river-swell and sway of a branch, are captured in macro - Mother Nature’s bed, a landscape ready to bloom. "When we bring our full attention to the act of listening, new worlds emerge that we wouldn't even notice if we were just passing by, distracted by thoughts" Christopher and Ludvig Cimbrelius (Purl) had only met a couple of times before the process of this album started, but when Christopher sent over the recordings, Ludvig fell in love with their simplicity and presence, and instantly knew he wanted to take them on. "I was traveling in France at the time with no place to call home, and the next time I passed through Sweden I recorded piano for the album. I had but one day to record and improvised freely, making 1 or 2 recordings for each track and then moving on to the next. After this session, I was carrying the project files from Christopher and piano recordings around with me for quite some time until I found the right state of mind to start the process of molding them together. Since I did not have a stable home during these years, I worked on the album in many different locations" The minutiae of sounds from Christopher’s field recordings are transformed into a variety of expansive lifeforms, as Purl’s majestic addition of piano, carefully measured beats and subtle instruments turn an organic landscape into an ethereal scene of movement and life. With each track given the length and focus it deserves, just like nature itself, the album slowly unfolds in several phases, unrestricted, free flowing and patiently awakening. "During the journey, my desire has been to bring life to all layers of the tracks while still retaining the beauty of their original simplicity” The album concept was given further life through the artwork, created by Noah MacDonald (previously designs include Yagya, Marsen Jules and bvdub), through an organic, flowing scene that expands within the inside gatefold - a time-lapse capturing the many stages, developments, sounds and feelings that emerge during A State Of Becoming.