Furafauna is the culmination of three years of work by Thorsten Soltau (who sometimes works under the name Femurl, with both names attributed to this album). Consisting of four pieces and two remixes, one by Troum and one by Sewicide, he dabbles in a wide variety of mostly (but not exclusively) electronic structures. Elements of abstract noise, glitching digital, and traditional composition all are present at various points, culminating in a dense and at times challenging but engaging album.
"Astafel" opens the disc with a spoken word passage that relents to spacious tones and an underlying bit of noise. Here, he meshes higher pitched tones mesh with a low synth pulse while including spoken passages met with far off clattering. Soltau mixes in some plucked strings to counter the more inorganic sounds that dominate the piece. "Lullaby for the Extinct" features some similar components, such as deep pulses, processed voices, and dramatic swells of synthesizers. Again, he implements the sound of strings, but this time plucked and bowed, with subtle processing to give an organic sensibility to the piece. Both of these pieces feature the legendary Ralf Wehowsky (RLW) on "virtual instruments," which may explain some of the continuity.
The lengthy "Four Studies for Furafauna" sounds at first like a guitar over a hissy foundation. Even with the strings added, Soltau’s focus seems to be more on electronics throughout. Via a dense, complex mix, he bounces the sound between wet, murky sludge and open spaces. He plays with these polar shifts between high and low frequencies, or layered tones and white noise passages. By the end he brings in creaky textures and creepy processing, pushing the piece into more sinister spaces and a glitchy conclusion.
"Therianthope" and its remix by Troum are comparably sparse but no less compelling. In its original form it is an amalgam of glassy shimmers expanding outward into cavernous spaces. Troum retains these core segments, bringing in what sounds like flowing water and taking things into more abstract directions with rushing noises balanced with rich tones. Sewicide’s "Die Nacht hat Hände" remix of "Lullaby for the Extinct" takes that disjunction of sound that was already there and gives it more of a cut-up feel. The sounds are pulled apart and showcases different things than the original did, with crunching static textures, popping and crackle noises, and occasionally a violin-like sound, with a digital processing sheen throughout.
A significant element to note about Furafauna is the depth and complexity of the sound design used by Thorsten Soltau’s throughout gives an even greater depth to this already nuanced work. By its composition alone there is much to be heard, but from a processing and sound design perspective, there is even more notable variation. The four main pieces differ from one another but have a unifying quality, largely due to Soltau’s production skills. The two remixes give a different perspective on half of the album but are ancillary overall, making for an enjoyable post-script to a fully realized series of compositions.
