How much purpose and intention can you put into one single note before it becomes stale, over-emphasized or simply “too perfect”? A difficult question, because warmth and idea do not necessarily contradict each other, this is not a general oxymoron. However, we all know those records which are too perfect, too sterile and not personal, not emotional enough to touch our very core. Please insert the record you are thinking of right now in this spot:____ And now I want to give you the record to counterbalance this bad example with: Listen to Leila Abdul-Rauf’s ”Calls from a Seething Edge”!
Who is the connecting point between Steve von Till, Shelby Lermo and Sam Foster (from US Black Metal underground legends Weakling)? It’s Leila Abdul-Rauf who most of you might know from the 20 Buck Spin band Vastum, which she founded alongside vocalist Daniel Butler and others, and where she performs guitar and vocal duties. Sam Foster is among a select handful of people who contributed to this record, but their
On her solo projects, the multi-instrumentalist performs multiple instruments, basically anything – including synths, string instruments (incl. arrangements for cello and viola), wind instruments (for example trumpet and horn) – and of course that makes for a very coherent sound as Leila knows exactly which sound she is aiming for. However do not expect these instruments to make short appearances, no they are as much the basis for Calls… as the other, regular instruments. However, the soundscape laid out by the opulent instrumentation is not one of her former Ambient-works, this record is an epic masterpiece with many different pillars, Ambient being only one of them. However, one can hear some choral influences, some Post-Punk and Folk, several ideas of Drone and World Music – the music is channeling Dead can Dance as much as Linnea Hjertén, as much Droneflower as it is Camerata Mediolanense. (Come to think about it, this year was really good for Neofolk/Post-Punk!) Sometimes her vocals play the ancient part, sometimes an instrument provides a narrative close to the sound of Lisa Gerrard’s voice on her collaborations with Hans Zimmer; at other points she sounds like the enchantress that some people want to see in some well-known female artists while they’re mere pop-artists in reality. The way that all these different influences blend together so perfectly can only be explained with the sheer amount of purpose that Leila gives each and everyone of them. Each sound unfolds like a myriad of soundscapes in front of our ears, seems to carry the weightless duty of its collocations and connotations, its predecessors and its successors. That’s the basis of the amazing flow of this record!
However, one should also look at the intention behind Calls from a Seething Edge: Leila’s latest record Phantasiai was released in 2021 and written/produced right before the Pandemic took over and changed the world we live in. In a certain way, the latter was Leila’s pre-Corona record and Calls… is the Pandemic record. It talks about and deals with the consequences of the virus and the times we live in. The way it worked as a catalyst for the rise of fascism worldwide, of an ongoing selfishness that finds its way into the election via parties who seem to offer the simplest answers for the most complicated problems without anyone noticing the dichotomy.
However complicated the world surely is, Leila Abdul-Rauf surely worked some miracles to create a record that is timeless on the one side (mostly the musical side, with influences seemingly Medieval or Early Modern or a bit later) but on the other side very state of the art (or maybe rather state of the world?). This is what the modern version of Ambient Folk can do – it can shows us our old-civilized roots and also our modern-day problems. 2024 was surely a great year for such music and one should count Calls from a Seething Edge amongst the very best of them!
You can order the record either via Cyclic Law (CD and Vinyl) or via Syrup Moose (for CD and cassette)!
