When you picture a “hole in the landscape, you’re more than likely thinking of either a crazy sinkhole or the presumably man-made pit featured in the movie 300. But Finnish musician Marja Ahti — a.k.a. Tsembla — has a different interpretation.
Specifically with regard to her new album on NNA Tapes, out May 25, she was thematically concerned with exploring the parallel between an actual hole in the landscape and the personal holes brought about about by loss or some other emotionally depleting event. “In either case, there is an absence surrounded by presence,” says NNA on the subject, and that new formation in the real or figurative landscape “transforms what is left and infuses it with new meaning.” It’s way more optimistic an idea than the notion of Spartan pets slipping on a rainy day and falling gracefully down…shit, I’m sad now. :’-(
Anyway, if you’re familiar with Tsembla’s previous solo work, her work as one-half of Ahti & Ahti, or her contributions to sound collage supergroup, Kemialliset Ystävät; then you might have a sense of where The Hole In The Landscape is bound to musically head. The album is being billed as reminiscent of — yet more “restrained and deliberate” than — the sounds of Kemialliset Ystävät, and the track “Gravitating Bones” certainly sounds that way. You might even say that the gaps in the electro-acoustic picture affect the journey overall. How about that???
This new one is Tsembla’s fourth studio album. Pre-order it here, then gravitate your eyeballs down below to watch the video for “Gravitating Bones.” Just be careful not to fall into any holes while you’re down there.
The Hole In The Landscape tracklisting:
01. Gravitating Bones
02. Splash Erosion
03. Penumbra
04. The Hole in the Landscape
05. Instant Granite
06. False Awakening
07. Phantom Limbs
08. Desert Lake