WATCH & LISTEN TO “MAR 12th” HERE
ASTERISMS ARRIVES OCTOBER 27 VIA ARTS & CRAFTS
PREORDER FROM ARTS & CRAFTS
"A synth-driven celestial bath of calm and wonder and gratitude, all things that feel desperately in short supply at this moment.” CBC Music
“A Glacial Sonic Journal.” XLR8R
Photo Credit: Chelsea Boida // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
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Today, Matthew Cardinal is sharing the new video for “Mar 12th,” the third track he has shared from his debut solo album, Asterisms – a dazzling collection of ambient electronic audio journal entries that crystallizes moments in the amiskwaciy (Edmonton) based artist’s life. Directed by SCKUSE (Stephanie Kuse), the goal of the video was to “make something spring sky inspired — kind of cold, hazy and colourful,” she says. “I used heavily edited footage of the Apollo 8, 11 and 12 launches from 1968/1969 for this one, along with some blurred out illustrations of flowers from the 1800’s.”
The track unfurls in overlapping melodic waves like rhythmic but beatless IDM, gently pulsating, modulating, and filling the melancholy transient phase between seasons. “With the exception of the opening track on the album which was recorded years before the others, this is the oldest recording on the album,” says Matthew, who timestamped each of the album’s eleven tracks with the dates of their creation.
“‘Mar 12th’ is a very simple track with a Moog at its core, the pulse becoming syncopated by a few delays and the sound expanding as I slowly open and close the filter. Other sounds are an old Roland string machine and a downtuned sample of my fiddle, a gift given to me by my mooshum. I recorded this sitting on my bedroom floor, playing my synths and recording it all on my sampler's digital 4 track.”
WATCH AND SHARE “MAR 12th” HERE
Known for his work in nêhiyawak – the moccasingaze trio whose debut album nipiy is currently nominated on the 2020 Polaris Music Prize Shortlist and was nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award for Indigenous Album of the Year – Cardinal’s first solo full-length explores "captured moments of experimentation and expression . . . asterisms drawing attention to where I was musically, mentally and emotionally at very brief passages of my life,” says Cardinal.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “MAY 24th”
Created with analogue synthesizers, a small modular system, samplers, electric piano, and processed voice, each sonic entry came out naturally in improvisational waves, recorded often in single days if not single takes. The minimal instrumental framework created pathways through each machine to the album’s vast cloud of starry narratives. “I'm very influenced by the instruments I play,” says Cardinal. “I love the sound of reverb, the imperfect reflection of sounds and how it decays. The sounds of bells, chimes, electric piano, and cello. I find certain sounds very inspiring.”
WATCH THE ALBUM TRAILER (“MAY 25th”)
Calling to mind the luxurious minimalism of Brian Eno, Erik Satie, Steve Reich, and Glenn Gould, and the swirling influence of Fennesz, Jim O’Rourke, Boards of Canada, and Slowdive, Cardinal creates a glacial, airy sonic universe that is personal yet evocative, subtle yet impressive. The album opening “Dec 31st” glistens with the crystalline climate synonymous with the day, while the album closing “Jul 23rd” ranges into Postal Service territory at the height of summer with a pulsing bpm that punctuates the amorphous map of moods that makes up the record.
PREORDER ASTERISMS FROM ARTS & CRAFTS
Described by Cardinal as “music recorded mostly for myself,” the cathartic value of these instrumental compositions is found in their release. A collection of intimate contemplations becomes interpretive and intentional music, a catalyst and companion to reading, studying, working, walking, dancing, hand-holding, and sleeping. “I would like it if people listened and interpreted the music anyway they want to,” says Cardinal. “I don't think these songs need a narrative, and I think certain moods come through some of the tracks, while other moods might only be heard by individual listeners.”
Cardinal found the title Asterisms to be the perfect encapsulation of the record he made. In typography, a near-obsolete character used to draw attention to a passage, and in astronomy, a visually obvious pattern of stars, asterisms connects the tangible and the intangible aspects that define this music. On his solo debut, Cardinal creates a document of his inner reflections that flourishes into an offering of sonic refractions for our own contemplation during these thought-provoking times.
Asterisms will be released by Arts & Crafts on October 27, 2020 on digital and vinyl formats. See below for full tracklisting.
