Life, Death and the Perpetual Wound follows a mystical road trip through a magic-realist American West, from the Seattle waterfront to the vast Chihuahuan Desert. These are all real locations that have marked the author in some way and rich stories lay behind every track. It’s both a document of what it means to be depressed in the face of undeniable natural beauty, and also a survey of liminal spaces. Life, Death and the Perpetual Wound is ultimately a story of how landscapes can save you. 

Written and recorded over three continents from 2016 to 2018 

Field recordings taken in California, Montana, New Mexico, Seattle, Stockholm, and Wyoming 

Samples on Track 5 used with permission from The Spirit of Turtle 

Mastered by Austin Kane 

Collaborators: 

Andrew Oda - Sample on Track 7 
Audrin Niema - Percussion on Track 12 
Emmanuel Hui - Violins and viola on Tracks 1, 6, and 10 
John Denno - Brass and horns on Tracks 3, 4, and 7 
Jonathan Chan - Bass on Track 13 
Josh Frenier - Drums on Track 13 
Katie Kuffel - Vocals on Track 1 and 13 
Sacha Grover - Additional violin on Tracks 1 and 6 

Special thanks to Anna Li, Derrick Kamp, Emma Vernon, George Wietor, Ian Chang, John Hanson, Mag Kim, and Marzuki Stevens.

Bandcamp: https://ministryofinteriorspaces.bandcamp.com/album/life-death-and-the-perpetual-wound

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/796o0ERaWTMaN6hL3aXQJo?si=H6PxAvcASIq-zJbknvfRdA

Life, Death and the Perpetual Wound

Island in the Sky UT

The Needles UT

Raton Pass Number Station CO

VHS Valley WY

Platonitudes National Park WY

Cassettelands ID

Katie's Apartment WA

TASCAM Mountains MT

C64 Falls ID

Hoyt Arboretum OR

Ministry of Interior Spaces is the ambient project of Hong Kong-native James Li (also of Liance). Originally conceived as a musical documentary of Michigan locations, Ministry of Interior Spaces creates visceral emotional landscapes through meditate waves of synth, piano, and cello. Influenced by the negative spaces of William Basinski and the crumbling compositions of Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Ministry of Interior Spaces speaks to how landscapes can save you. 


Dying Towns of the Midwest (Remastered), Ministry of Interior Spaces’ first full-length, was largely recorded on the OP-1 in January 2016. Formed deep in a bitter Michigan winter, field and found recordings permeate this uniquely midwestern landscape of snow, disintegration, and emotional numbness. 


The Sister in the Snow EP, Ministry of Interior Spaces’ second release, is an intimate collection of vignettes and personal spaces. Brief, diverse, and impressionistic, Sister of the Snow feels like Lake Michigan at night.