'I the Storm'
Simon McCorry
See Blue Audio SBA 045

1. The Earth's Sorrow for All Things That Pass
2. Misericordia
3. These Scalding Tears
4. The Ever-Evolving Reflecting Mirror

Release date: 22 September 2023

lnk.to/SBA045

See Blue Audio: ambient / electronic / beatless / cinematic / downtempo / eclectic / introspective… Shade rather than light...

As summer fades and the nights draw in, our collective consciousness can take a turn towards the melancholic. We may feel this cyclical change at both a micro, individual level and as part of a greater cosmic dimension, but its presence is undeniable. We can find ourselves in the eye of a storm, and that storm could well be within us. This is the theme of the forty-fifth release on See Blue Audio: 'I the Storm' by Simon McCorry.

Mixed ethnicity, part-British, part-Indian, and "cellist sound-sculptor of ambiguous environments", this is Simon's third release on See Blue Audio. It follows a prolific couple of years of releases on respected labels on the ambient music scene like Oscarson, Shimmering Moods, Whitelabrecs, Hidden Vibes, Rusted Tone Recordings and Polar Seas. As with Simon's first release on See Blue Audio, the 'Nature in Nature' EP from 2021, where the title track was created for a short film featuring Japanese contemporary dance artist Satoko Fukuda, so 'I the Storm' began its life in the theatre. All four compositions were written while collaborating with choreographer Travis Clausen-Knight on 'I the Storm', part of the Fabula Collective production 'Momentum'. Although not originally intended for the show, they ended up using 'These Scalding Tears' in its entirety alongside other original music from Simon, with 'Momentum' receiving its premiere at Sadlers Wells Theatre in London in September 2022.

Another important component in the backstory to 'I the Storm' is the serious health issues and periods in hospital Simon experienced at the end of 2021. As disharmony in the body can also lead to disharmony in the mind, this became a time of deep personal confusion for the artist. Seeking spiritual answers, 'I the Storm' is largely influenced and indebted to the sacred music of the 12th century Benedictine writer and visionary Hildegard von Bingen, even though it has a veneer of contemporary sonic landscapes.

'I the Storm' consists of four beatless compositions of varying length based around asynchronous live looping with the cello, a method Simon has been experimenting with for a number of years. This new work takes the process in another direction as all the loops remain 'open' in overdub mode. Five loops of five different lengths always recording and adding new material as the older material slowly fades away on each repeat. Sounds cascade and circle around each other in a network of loop and delay; sometimes like a call and response, sometimes like reverb or an audio smudge, or a choir of cellos, or dense string orchestration and harmonisation. There are moments where the music is on the edge of going out of control and tipping into chaos; a tightrope is being walked.

All the tracks on 'I the Storm' were played and recorded in one sitting. The chaotic nature of the method means this is the only way, but each piece also exists as its own dramatic whole, while contained within are smaller sections or movements travelling through different emotional states and spaces.

'I the Storm' was not conceived or executed as background ambience; this is not linear or gentle listening. Nothing is hidden, all emotions are raw, and it was designed to be experienced by the listener as such. As the track titles show, ours is a world of tumult and turmoil, of agitation and upheaval, and where the storm that's within us all ebbs and flows throughout life.

Mastered by Taylor Deupree at 12k Mastering.

Image: the Sound Camp.

I the Storm

'I the Storm' (preview) – Simon McCorry (See Blue Audio SBA #045)

"Light is to the camera obscura as sound is to audio obscura." 
 
Odd electronics for the ears, making music covering the wide spectrums of electro-acoustic music, musique concrète, idm and occasional field recordings, with post-classical minimal leanings but beats and bass as well!.  Someone described it as "experimental easy-lsitening" which I like. 
For a while I collaborated as part of a collective under the name Sound Celestial Orchestra but that is no more!  (see, https://soundcloud.com/sound-celestial-orchestra)
I'm always keen on remixing other Soundcloud users and like a challenge.