lumisokea: mnemosyne

Berlin-based Italian/Belgian duo Lumisokea present Mnemosyne, shedding the bass-heavy rollers found on 2014's Apophenia, and welcoming space and tension into the fold. Most of the groundwork for the record was made during a week-long residency at the WORM studio in Rotterdam, which saw the duo make full use of the studio's collection of synthesizers from the '60s and '70s. The improvisations with these peculiar machines were subsequently edited and combined with heavily-processed recordings of gamelan bells, prepared piano, cello, and acoustic drums. A meticulous two-year period of reworking and reflection followed before Lumisokea finally arrived at Mnemosyne. An exploration of the gray area of sounds that vacillate between electronic and acoustic; an effort to show their coalescence and kinship, like shadows of forgotten sonic ancestors. Shards of oblique melody merge with slow-burning rhythms; sudden changes of scenery melt into fog-drenched sonic artifacts. In Lumisokea's own words, "The whole process felt like cultivating a garden of the imagination which is in no rush to be opened to the visitors. With this full-length album we explore the more nocturne, narrative and twilight-like angle of Lumisokea. When listening back to it, we had strong images evoking times in an unidentified or unactualized past, like places and events that could have existed, but then didn't. Hence our reference to Mnemosyne, the ancient Greek goddess of Memory."