Kali Malone - Velocity of Sleep

Reissue of Kali Malone's debut from 2017, originally released in an edition of 100 back, copies of which are now either impossible to find or trading for house prices. Flippers be damned, though the thirst for this record is understandable - it's some opening salvo from Malone. Recorded in multiple locations in Sweden (one being an abandoned nuclear reactor) between 2015-2016, Malone is joined by several players - of lute, gongs, viola - orchestrating them in what is an expert display of poised and patient minimalism. Those only familiar with The Sacrificial Code may find themselves a little surprised by the sparseness of the 20 minute long opening title track. Free of the heavy weather density of that collection, Malone instead pares back, creating a kind of naked raga, the single notes of Peter Söderberg's long-necked Theorbo hanging suspended in the dead air. It's incredibly brave and/or smart to begin a debut in such a way, but as with everything Malone does, it also feels punctured with an implacable emotional quality. This is still, contemplative, often lonely sounding music able to conjure its own stark imagery. The other two tracks are fuller, drone-based pieces, more familiar to the work on Organ Dirges and the aforementioned TSC, reminding me in its grace of both Phill Niblock, Ellen Fullman and Pauline Oliveros. What we now know of Malone means it's a little churlish to make comparisons to others, she's out there on her own journey. Here's where it started. Still wonderful.