Atte Elias Kantonen - POP 6 SUSURRUS (2022)

Finnish composer, sonic explorer and sound designer Atte Elias Kantonen joins mappa with a suite of fascinating whisperings. Following releases on SUPERPANG, Active Listeners Club or Granny Records, ‘POP 6 SUSURRUS’ finds Kantonen exploring the extreme edges of various sound sources. By kneading, bending, stretching and squeezing slivers of audio, he uncovers their uncanny underbelly; ‘POP 6 SUSURRUS’ creaks, gurgles, hisses, susurrates, bubbles, boils, disintegrates, echoes, plunges… Throughout, however, it also maintains a feeling of softness and vulnerability; velvety melodic clouds hover above the alien landscape.

In creating ‘POP 6 SUSURRUS’, Kantonen was guided by the paradox of an anxious mind, and was “attempting to cartograph an in-between of order and confusion.” Hints of memories break into fragments of abstractions, clear thoughts are embellished, and listening feels like “trying to convey the nature of distilling meaning from muddled experiences.” Most of the time it feels like the music is on the verge of collapse – like a jenga tower after everyone’s had several turns – but in reality it’s all very beautifully balanced and masterfully assembled. Your ears will be pleased.