AKUSMI - 'TERRA INCOGNITA'

Formats

• TU020LE - LP (COLOURED)

  4251804187091

• TU020LP - LP

  4251804187107

• TU020CD - CD

  4251804187084

Details

**Available on Limited Transparent Orange Vinyl** Cartographers and US multinational technology corporations might think they’ve mapped out most of our big, beautiful blue planet, and yet there’s always more to discover if you know where to look. French-born, London-based composer and musician Pascal Bideau takes this as his central premise on a new album of intrepid sonic exploration that delights in the sensation of being somewhere you’ve never been before. ‘Terra Incognita’ invites us to seven faraway sonic imaginariums fusing global and spiritual jazz with life affirming minimalism into a hypnotic, polyrhythmic odyssey. This time, the albums’ sound palette is more vibrant, earthy and abundant, drawing inspiration from the radiating optimism and high-energy sources heard in Afrobeat, Highlife and Electronic Afro-pop music, sounding looser, free and primarily interested in raw sensations. Antithetical to the precise ostinatos and gamelan patterns of the acclaimed debut ‘Fleeting Future’ (2022) and ‘Lines’ (2023). Terra Incognita, then, is a hybrid blend of traditional music and modern electronics, a trip into the unknown that ambulates freely, taking pleasure in its repetitions and never staying still. Bideau suggests this unmarked territory could be as much a fantasyland as it is a transportive journey into the inner self. “It’s probably the feeling I love the most in life,” enthuses Pascal. “It pushes you into a state of wonder and naivety that brings you back to how everything felt when you were a child.” He’s talking about dépaysement, a French word that literally translates as “uncountryfication” but has no English equivalent. “It’s the sensation you get when you visit a place you’ve never been before, where nothing makes sense and everything needs to be learnt from scratch. There are no cultural references, no familiarity, just a constant flux of new colours, smells, social and moral codes.” In an era where the concept of nation states and their need to be protected has come to dominate the political discourse, Terra Incognita embraces adventure without borders, seeking out the unexplored territory of the title, breathlessly beholding vistas and pirouetting to take in boundless panoramas.

Tracks

LP TRACKLIST
A
1. A Waking Dream
2. Anima
3. Club Subterranea
B
1. Drongo?s Flute
2. Rain Dance
3. Dawning Dusk


CD TRACKLIST

1. A Waking Dream
2. Anima
3. Club Subterranea
4. Pleine Lune (Bonus CD track)
5. Drongo?s Flute
6. Rain Dance
7. Dawning Dusk

Press

"Minimalism meets rave pentatonics" ★★★★ ? The Guardian, Album of the Month

?Meditation level music? - Benji B (BBC Radio 1)

Audio & Video