Experimental trumpeter Hilde Marie Holsen will be releasing this album shortly. It is based entirely on sounds generated by way of her trumpet. Along with long-held, plaintive notes, there are looped and echoed noises, scaping and fluttering, and jagged structures. But these more unusual elements are surprisingly well combined with her slow, melancholic melodies. Many passages do not feel outside despite various weirdnesses crackling in the background. Holsen tempers her explorations with restraint, keeping the pieces at a slow burn.
Case in point, ominous low-frequency drones populate the second half of the title track and incorporate jarring moments, but never overwhelm or dominate the listener. When the electroacoustics build to a near climax, Holsen pulls them back from the edge. Nonetheless, the second track – Kambrium – largely obscures its source instrument and instead is a mix of discordant layers of drones and oscillations. The final piece, Ordovicium, takes the approach of the opener but with a more rapid tempo for the trumpet. It also includes watery effects as well as harsher noises that juxtapose wonderfully with Holsen’s foreboding yet pastoral playing.
Ediacara is one of those albums that is appealing on first listen and then your appreciation of it continues to grow. It is a very compelling and enjoyable set of covert and overt experimentalism. I suspect that watching Holsen perform live would be as visually engaging as her music is sonically captivating.
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