Perila, the moniker of Berlin-based electronic musician Aleksandra Zakharenko, will release her debut album, How Much Time it is Between You and Me?, on Smalltown Supersound.

Raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, Zakharenko moved to Berlin six years ago, finding her place at Berlin Community Radio. Regular work with expressionistic field recordings and electronic sound research eventually led Zakharenko to develop her own podcast series, WET (Weird Erotic Tension), combining her evocative, atmospheric music with erotic spoken word poetry. After a handful of early cassette releases as Perila—a project name used for her BCR show—Zakharenko now arrives at Smalltown Supersound

For How Much Time it is Between You and Me?, Zakharenko took inspiration from the concept of time, which she felt keenly during the pandemic. She recorded the release through September 2020 in a rural village in France, surrounded by mountains, alone with no internet. Her perception of time there differed immensely.

Across 11 tracks, Zakharenko aims to explore how we feel music and emotion in the body and how sound can help release it. How does the sound enter a body and travel through it? Where does movement start? How do you reach and unblock emotional clusters with the help of sound? We’re told that the sound can loosely be described as ambient, but it’s also filled with detail and movement, more akin to hauntological musique concrète.

To coincide with the announcement, Zakharenko has shared “Fallin Into Space,” a track about “grounding yourself in new places, accepting the surroundings, and opening up to what comes,” explains Zakharenko. “It’s about slowing down and being conscious about what and how your body is in that space. Many new things come to attention when you slow down and observe.”

Zakharenko has previously put out work on Boomkat Editions, The Trilogy Tapes, and Experiences Ltd., solo and in collaboration with Ulla Straus.

Tracklisting

01. Air Like Velvet
02. Time Date
03. You Disappear You Find Yourself Again
04. Untitled
05. Blanket
06. Memories of Grass
07. Enchlz
08. Backyard Echo
09. Vaxxine
10. Cradle
11. Fallin Into Space

How Much Time it is Between You and Me? LP is scheduled for June 25 release. Meanwhile, you can listen to “Fallin Into Space” below and pre-order here.