Burn into the Burning Song
Kali Malone has unveiled her new album, Burning Song, an exploration of sound that moves at a deliberate, glacial pace. It invites listeners to discover entire worlds hidden within her sonic landscapes, inviting them to lose themselves in the vast, evocative spaces between the notes. While the pieces on this new collection are notably shorter than her previous works, the powerful emotional tones remain deeply present, ripe for profound exploration.
American-born and based in Stockholm, Malone crafts her minimalist compositions using elaborate tuning systems to achieve a distinctly minimalist effect. For Burning Song, she harnessed the resonance of history by recording her drones on the pipe organ in Thomaskirche, a Lutheran church in Leipzig. This is the very same sacred space where J.S. Bach spent his final years as music director. Though Malone’s sound diverges from the classical genius of Bach, there is an undeniable, haunting resonance, as if centuries of musical history and the great composer’s essence somehow linger over the seven tracks. The maestro himself is metaphorically buried beneath the altar where the music was captured.
The sound on the album is richly layered. Malone is not working in isolation; her husband, Stephen O’Malley of Sunn O))), contributes the warmth of bowed acoustic guitar, while Lucy Railton adds the haunting texture of cello. Although Malone’s music avoids the overtly gloomy nature sometimes associated with O’Malley’s work, a somber heaviness permeates the entire body of the album, creating a deeply felt emotional weight.
The album opens with “Grieving Figure,” a piece that drifts with the quality of fog over an endless ocean. This sense of drifting mirrors the monochromatic aesthetic of the album cover, which features Malone standing on a beach as the tide flows in while a solitary fire burns before her. This powerful imagery of ocean and fire is echoed in the video for the penultimate track, “Heavy with Fruit,” where the slow, drifting movement reflects the emotional currents the music carries. The work pulses with a heavy, unshakable sense of melancholy drama.
The shorter format of Burning Song allows for swifter shifts in tonal and mood than Malone’s earlier, more expansive records. The microtonal drones characteristic of her older material demand a sustained degree of attention that can be difficult to maintain in today’s fast-paced media environment. However, these compact pieces serve as an excellent, accessible entry point into the complex and immersive world of Kali Malone.
The true pleasures of Burning Song may not be immediately apparent upon the first listen. This is not music designed to be background noise; it is meditative, demanding focused attention. Initially, the seven tracks might feel like a monolithic wash of sound. But listen closely, and you will discover a bounty of reward for those willing to slow down and truly observe the experience.
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