If ever there was an album that is perfectly suited to the BBC’s staggering Planet Earth series, this is it. Mira Calix, aka South African Chantal Passamonte’s third full length album for Warp Records majestically combines avant-garde electronic music with field recordings of natural sounds taking place in the forests of Suffolk, where she currently resides.
Eyes Set Against the Sun uses experimental beats much more sparingly than her previous two efforts, One on One and Skimskitta, instead focusing on instrumental melodies, her own vocals and even a school choir alongside such sounds as raindrops falling and leaves rustling. Her music has now developed to the extent that her pieces can now be considered as compositions rather than tracks. Further evidence to highlight her growing involvement with classical music includes the music she was recently commissioned for the Geneva Natural History Museum and her tour with the London Sinfonietta.
Opening piece “Because to Why” is likely to be met with mixed reactions. It begins with the soft sounds of the school choir and is followed by the sound of a meandering violin and eventually a beautifully airy layer. It breaks down, however, into a cluttered and overpowering ending which may leave listeners feeling disappointed. Flawed genius? Perhaps. “The Stockholm Syndrome” steps back into more familiar Calix territory. It is one of only two beat-orientated compositions on the album, and one of the only ones to start as it means to go on. Chantal’s own apathetic singing voice compliments it excellently.
The short-lived “Protean” is among the highlights. This time the field recordings provide an elegant backdrop to the sublime layer that breezes along throughout, rather than acting as interference. The first half of the epic centre-piece “The Way You Are When” consists of delightful plucked strings but unfortunately suffers the same fate as the opener, as it disintegrates into a combination of abrasive industrial sounds and noise.
“Tillsammans” is another brief piece which justifies a lengthened stay with its gentle, plodding glockenspiel melodies. “Umbra/Penumbra” is the other ‘beat’ piece which offers a glance into the Calix we used to know, being possibly the only longer track which would have sounded at home on her previous albums.
Mira Calix has undeniably unleashed a breath of fresh air on a genre which is struggling to conjure up new and exciting ideas. Time usually spent by most artists polishing productions seems to have been used manufacturing an innocently unfinished and rough feel. Although not without its glaring flaws, the organic, delicate and simply beautiful charms this album offers must not beunder-appreciated.
Eyes Set Against the Sun is out now on Warp.
