The way the drones and nature sounds blend together produce a noticeable, primordial outcome that is practically terrifying as Midsummer, London explores morbid emotions like fear and dread rather than just sounds or places.
An audio pastiche of field recordings
I was surprised while listening to Kate Carr’s Midsummer, London to find that it resembles early drone works from the late ‘90s and early ‘oughts (while having a clear and current sound quality). I am always happy to come across this kind of music. Carr also runs the London-based Flaming Pines imprint, while Midsummer, London can be found on Persistence of Sound—”a new independent record label celebrating musique concrète, field recordings and the sounds in between.”
“Roadworks in Sheppington” combines two elements found throughout the album. There is a drone layer, which has electroacoustic qualities. Complementing the drone layer is an audio pastiche of field recordings. The drone and field works carry consistent themes, and the combination of the two results in a mode that is more emotional, more based on human experience, than on abstract qualities. “One piece of cake (a banana cake), and remembered excavations” contains some light dissonant sounds, which oscillate here and there. The tone floats somewhere between science fiction and nightmare. Certainly the mood is far darker than the field works themselves.
In track 11, “Transit Interlude (with the Lewisham station piano),” there is a sense of underground space. A clatter of iron, joined by a series of field recordings from various sources, develops a dark agreement with a thin, acoustic drone. Most of the piece conveys a mild sense of dread. The field works cycle from cacophonic to peaceful, and are composed of sounds that are normal and familiar.
“Trying To Find The River At Slade Green” features less-processed phonographic elements. These connote a summer resort, perhaps alongside a highway. The drone element shimmers like the surface of a river. The track conveys a feeling of anxiety, which is evocative of wandering, stress, confusion—even frustration. Though the sounds of resort-goers are less ominous in tone, overall the track is quite dark, and reaches towards a theme based on human moods rather than atmospheric impressions.
Overall, Kate Carr’s Midsummer, London is a great listening experience. It seemed to me that a subliminal but central theme was a range of deeper human emotions. The way the drones and nature sounds blend together produce a noticeable, primordial outcome that is practically terrifying as the album explores morbid emotions like fear and dread rather than just sounds or places.
Midsummer, London is available on Persistence of Sound June 20, 2024. [Bandcamp]
