Last year we were introduced to the Ibiza-based NGO MusicForTheSea through Coco Francavilla’s liquid re-oceaning. This year the imprint’s second release was also unveiled on United Nations World Oceans Day, and celebrates the ocean while drawing essential attention to conservation efforts.
Tidal Shifts – Reimagine, an outgrowth of an event in Nice, is a collaborative effort among field recordists, composers, and visual artists, incorporating copious underwater recordings from the Strait of Gibraltar captured by the Institute of Marine Research of the University of Cádiz.
These recordings lie at the heart of the release, calling one’s ears ever back to the sounds of the sea. IDRA eases us gently into the ocean, beginning at the shore; the waves lap beside twinkling electronics and placid keys. Considering how many ambient tracks from Ibiza have showcased the sound of waves, it’s amazing that so few are this intentional; instead of mere background or sound effect, they are the music’s reason to exist.
The soundings of Oora introduce the human element, studying the health of the ecosystem; the waves are louder, as is the rolling of the hull. This is the sound of research rather than intrusion, evidence of scientists hard at work. The “Tides at Bay of Fundy” are the world’s highest, yielding real-time evidence of glacial melt and climate change. As the music grows more active, one can imagine the tide rising, quicker and higher than expected, a parable for the planet’s possible fate. At the very end, there is only the sound of water, along with the sounding instrument; the music has abruptly recessed.
Whalesong launchhes Vito Gatto‘s “Introimmersion,” wrapping the listener in a watery blanket. Cascades of keys pass by like schools of fish. Brass enters in the second minute, along with the crackle of what may be brine shrimp. The implication is of something dark and enormous; the question is, benign or threatening? Is this simply the shadow of a passing whale, or the longer shadow cast by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
The closing “Indigo Reverie” is a collaboration between Kazuya Nagaya and Coco Francavilla, the former fresh from the release of Lumina. During this contemplative piece, one may indeed become lost in one’s thoughts, dreaming of the ocean and weekends by the sea. But to only do so is to miss the point. 15% of the world’s population lives by a coastline, while three times that number visit every summer. The coastline – as well as the health of the sea – is endangered, as are the lives of those who live in and around it. Tidal Shifts may sound comforting, but its intent is to unsettle, or at the very least to motivate. The beauty of “Indigo Reverie” is that it grows like a coral reef; but the music seems always fragile, a reminder that without care, even the most durable facets of life can disintegrate. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 