WATCH THE “JULY 23rd” VIDEO HERE
BUY / STREAM ASTERISMS FROM ARTS & CRAFTS
”A substantial and constantly shifting record — a sky of billowing clouds, heavy with texture and depth... an entirely wordless snowfall.” Exclaim!
"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: Heather Saitz // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
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Today, Matthew Cardinal releases his debut solo album, Asterisms – a dazzling collection of ambient electronic audio journal entries that crystallizes moments in his life. To celebrate, the amiskwaciy (Edmonton) based artist is sharing the new video for the album’s final track, “July 23rd,” by director SCKUSE (Stephanie Kuse). The video follows the established trajectory of her video entries for “May 25th,” “May 24th,” and “Mar 12th,” with distinct natural elements finally emerging from the abstract beauty of images processed through an old TV.
“The track reminded me of warmly reflecting on memories of a summer spent with a loved one where the passage of time feels fast and slow all at once,” Kuse says. “I used a collection of clips I shot throughout the summer supplemented with hands reaching out shot in studio and found footage of fireworks to visually emulate that feeling.”
WATCH & LISTEN TO “JULY 23rd” HERE
Of the track, Cardinal says, “I needed to do some work and needed a soundtrack for myself. I made a generative piece and, instead of doing work, I decided to build on this. Adding some analogue bass, a shimmering organ lead and the only drum machine on the album, I came out with one of my favourite tracks I’ve ever done.”
Known for his work in nêhiyawak – the moccasingaze trio whose debut album nipiy was nominated for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize Shortlist and 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.
BUY / STREAM ASTERISMS FROM ARTS & CRAFTS
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.”
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.
CLICK FOR THE YOUTUBE PLAYLIST OF ALL ASTERISMS VIDEOS
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 is out today via Arts & Crafts on digital and vinyl formats. See below for full tracklisting.
