rauelsson & tatu rönkkö: myriadí

Recorded both in Spain and Finland, the 13-track album Myriadi documents Tatu Rönkkö and Raúl Pastor Medall's first standalone collaboration, entirely created, performed and mixed by the pair. With Myriadi, the two artists walk listeners into a world that somehow manages to feel ancient and modern at the same time. It is peaceful and dreamy but also raw, solemn and unsettling. Tatu's improvisational, crude and almost ritualistic sonic approach blends in seamlessly with Raúl's more melodic and melancholic schemes of composition. With its simplicity and clarity, Myriadi belongs in the realms of dark ambient and drone as much as it belongs to a tradition of minimal acoustic music. Myriadi embraces loose ends, harmonic freedom, and even atonality; regardless of whether it involves the sound of glass-blowing water bottles, a small Finnish harp, bell-like sounding metal plates or piano strings played with paint brushes and sticks, the overall improv-based character of the project gives Myriadi a primal, unpredictable, and meditative feel. This spontaneous study of form and timbre has room for bold rhythmic pieces played with a drum set consisting of six floor toms, but also for hypnotic chants of granular flute-like sounds and spoken word poetry (featuring voices by Raúl and Tatu's moms). The spontaneity and lack of premeditation that permeate through Myriadi paradoxically reinforce the cohesiveness of the record. Rauelsson (Raúl Pastor Medall's musical moniker) and Tatu Rönkkö met in 2015 through common friends. They both have released music on the Berlin-based label Sonic Pieces and have collaborated on stage and in the studio on a number of occasions. Tatu appeared as a guest musician on Rauelsson's Mirall (2018) and contributed significantly on some film and TV projects that Raúl has worked on for the last couple of years. For the recording sessions of the dystopian TV Series Anna (2021) Tatu travelled to Spain where they explored countless rhythmic ideas with relatively untraditional instrumentation. These free and relaxed creative meetings led to other recording sessions completely unconnected to any scoring project, planting the seed for what Myriadi would become. RIYL: Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Brian Eno. Mastered by Martyn Heyne at Lichte Studio, Berlin, Germany. Cover art by Tatu Rönkkö. Photo by Saku Soukka.