Plant Mu sub-label Objects Limited will present the new album of pioneering electroacoustic composer Kaffe Matthews, titled Foreigner.

Foreigner, a two-track stereo acousmatic piece, stems from Matthews finding an Italian-made ELKA 400 electric accordion organ in a second-hand Ghent shop some years ago, and it marks the start of a series of releases, all using the organ in some way. The full composition is 27 minutes long.

Each track is made from a sonification of the word foreigner to create a specific sequence of notes, in effect an arbitrary line, that are played and recorded in reverse order in adjacent pairs. The results are layered over each other, then nudged in time and mixed to explore and utilise the effects of the beatings created by the different tone combinations.

Underpinning the release is Matthews’ life in Berlin, Germany, where she has had the space to explore the ELKA. While struggling with the practicalities of moving there, she decided to create the idea of a random line drawn in space that clusters of sounds gather at and attempt to cross. “What happens?,” she asked herself. “Shivering bodies of ELKA notes do this well as each one is changed in presence and outcome due to what else is with them and when and where they are,” she continues. “This process also makes its own music that morphs into rolling landscapes and sculpture, shifting from movement to moments of stasis if you can but sit down to listen.”

Matthews has a colorful background including a degree in Zoology, her architectural compositions working in the Galapagos with sharks, and more recent work with sonic bikes and The Bicrophonic Research Institute. Her live performances are central to her work, as documented across numerous solo and collaborative albums on her own label, Annette Works, since the ’90s. Her many awards include a BAFTA with Mandy McIntosh and Zeena Parkins. You can read more about her work here.

Tracklisting

01. Foreigner A
02. Foreigner B

Foreigner LP is out April 10 via Objects Limited. Meanwhile, you can hear an extract of the recording here, where you can read more about the concept behind it.