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EARS

I keep crediting the radio with introducing me to this or that artist: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith being another one among a great many. In this particular case I think it was Stuart Maconie who featured some tracks from EARS on his Freak Zone show on BBC 6 Music around the time of its release in 2016. I didn't buy the album at the time, but kept it in mind and at intervals I'd return to look up something or other of hers on YouTube.

During one YouTube session I watched a video of a performance she did with veteran knob-twiddler Suzanne Ciani - and loved it enough that I bought their collaborative Sunergy album right away. Soon after that I ordered a copy of EARS via ebay. I slightly prefer the the spacious & semi-improvisational feel of the former album, but find the latter most enjoyable too.

Smith coaxes burbling, seemingly-organic textures from her electronic music-boxes, and seamlessly combines those with processed vocals and 'natural' woodwinds (the notes mention flute, clarinet, alto and tenor sax, and bass clarinet). There are no drums, and the music ebbs and flows like water in some otherwordly tidal rockpool. The track 'Arthropoda' comes the closest to being conventionally song-like and strikes me as vaguely Enya-esque. The tracks (all but the last of them 3-5 minutes long) complement each other well and form a pleasingly coherent whole.
 

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