STEVE FORS, it's nothing, but still, LP
Hallow Ground
Vinyl / digital, catalogue nr. HG2201
Getefold cover, obi strip, limited clear vinyl

// Single release "ground glass" 21. June 2022
// Album release "it's nothing, but still" 19. Aug. 2022

Steve Fors offers deeply physical music on his Hallow Ground debut »it's nothing, but still.« Having already established himself as a composer of visceral drone and noise pieces in various Chicago- and New York-based underground projects, Fors’s first release under his given name is even more dense and evocative than his earlier work. A concept album on the subject of breath, the Siavash Amini-produced record sees the now Swiss-based composer blend field recordings with electronic and acoustic sounds—most notably towering cello drones—to almost overwhelming effect. 

Initially taking inspiration from living with a chronic lung condition, Fors meticulously crafts pieces that transcend his personal experience and reach for something universal. »The album is a study in melancholy and transience,« he explains. »And my intention is that the sounds trigger a memory, an image, a feeling in each of us. While our specific circumstances are momentary and discrete; joy, rage, and despair remain existential to our common experience.«

At first listen, Fors describes moments in time by building on a foundation of simple field recordings—an afternoon in a cathedral, the idling of COVID-19 morgue trucks outside Brooklyn Hospital, or the fleeting sound of wind in the trees—and then progressively overlays electronic and acoustic textures. On repeated plays however, the songs unfold, revealing a complexity, depth, and presence uncommon in current ambient music.

What makes »it's nothing, but still« such a memorable album is that it doesn’t impose anything on the listener, but rather offers them something to get lost in. From the first lush drones on the opener »(good enough) for now,« to the solemn piano chords on the title track, to the glistening cello feedback on »the way to heaven,« Fors’s sentiment about the record rings true. »If we surrender ourselves, these sounds can move us out of our present condition into a distinctly different existence, if only for a moment. If we choose to listen closely, we can experience the superpositioning of both memory and imagination in real time.«
Tracklist:
1.) (good enough) for now (07:28)
2.) ground glass (05:32)
3.) it's nothing, but still (05:02)
4.) unsound structures  (06:26)
5.) lead into aether (05:58)
6.) the way to heaven (05:48)		 
		
Credits:
All songs composed, recorded, performed and mixed by Steve Fors in Zurich 
Produced by Siavash Amini in Tehran, Iran
Mastered by Rafael Anton Irissari at Black Knoll Studio, New York
Cover photography by Jens Knigge
Cover design by Steve Fors
Released by Hallow Ground in 2022

STEVE FORS - ground glass

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If you’re going through hell, just keep going. 
Dedicated to 2021-2023
Support: https://forgiveness.bandcamp.com/track/mess-x3

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info + tracklist: https://radio.syg.ma/episodes/actual-grammar

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https://www.nts.live/shows/early-bird-show-maria-somerville/episodes/early-bird-show-maria-somerville-17th-april-2023

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