With a handful of cassettes and CDr EPs released so far, Australian composer Felicity Mangan's first full-length vinyl LP presents a further refinement of her compositional style, blending natural recordings with electronic instrumentation to excellent effect. While on paper her approach may seem rather conventional for the genre, the final product is something much more distinct, engaging, and adventurous.
While the album itself is titled String Figures, Mangan only employs instruments via sampled cello by Moritz Draheim on two pieces. "Cello Figures" is initially a pairing of nature recordings and lush, electronic tones that at times resemble a didgeridoo. As she paints thick, dense layers of sound, the lush cello slips through, beautifully balancing tones and frequencies before a gentle drift away. Fitting the title, the cello on "Invisible Strings" is less overt, blended into elongated tones with consistently shifting dynamics. There is a light, suspended feel to the piece that drifts away delicately. This sense of space is also prevalent on "String Thing," a rich, synth heavy piece that builds in nuance complexity, but retains a pleasant sense of depth.
Even though much of Mangan's work here is open and inviting, that is by no means the only sound she utilizes. "Watering Device," which opens with a recording of a lawn sprinkler and far off conversations quickly transitions from a placid suburban setting into a realm of bass heavy frequencies and dense, rumbling low end. The electronics soon become the focus and she switches up the mood drastically from how it began. Pulsating tones, sequenced and demanding, characterize much of "Magnetic Moss." There is distinct repetition here but never becoming dull or repetitive and instead makes for an engaging dynamic throughout.
Closing song "Magnet, Paper, Frog" is perhaps the most descriptive of the compositional approaches she employs on the record. Crunchy textures immediately set it apart from the otherwise drifting tones of much of the record, creating a fragmented sense of rhythm that works beautifully. My assumption is that the magnet and paper create those more dissonant elements, because the frogs are completely apparent once they appear.
Blending field recordings and electronics is, of course, not a novel concept by any means. But Felicity Mangan’s approach, lifting the curtain to allow source material to occasionally shine through, while also letting things get a bit distorted and noisy now and then, is a fresh take on the style. While much of String Figures is peaceful, drifting ambient sounds and environments, the electronic crunches and the tones that lean more towards the low end of the frequency spectrum give the album a distinct character. Never noisy, but never purely spacious either, it is the perfect balance of sounds.
Listen here.
