Suki Sou - Notes on Listening (2023)

"I am impressed by the conceptual clarity of Suki Sou's album Notes on Listening. I can hear common roots to Harmonia's music and I'm sure that many of our fans will enjoy Suki's tracks." - Michael Rother (NEU!/Harmonia), 2023

"A homage to early electronic instruments and pioneering producers - think Suzanne Ciani, Pauline Oliveros and Terry Riley - the seven-track album feels like a healing, mind-clearing walk in nature." - Claire Francis (DJ Mag)

We are pleased to announce the release of electronic composer and sound designer Suki Sou’s deep listening focused debut mini album, Notes On Listening as a limited edition cd, digital download and streaming on all major digital platforms.

Born from a fascination with early electronic instruments, the record is a unique blend of neo-morning electronica, kosmische and proto techno. With its purified synthesized babble and hydrated loops, it’s perfect for accompanying moments of mindfulness, from wiping rain off your nose, to melting in a eucalyptus bath.

Inspired by the quotidian, the overlooked and the pleasurable, and with synaesthesia since birth, Suki has created aural tapestry filled with early morning sunlight and chromatic opalescent patterns. It was built around natural elements, silence and focus. “When the interference is low, and distraction minimum, all you have is your pure focus to listen to every vibration around you. You can feel and hear the everyday differently”, she comments.

Suki is a self-taught improviser who plays by ear and centers her compositions on the fundamental waveforms of electronic music. She uses sequencers to create intricate and layered melodies and rhythms, drawing on synthesis techniques, repeating patterns, and subtraction to create her distinctive sound.

Across seven varied, nuanced and subtly detailed tracks, we hear Suki taking minimalist oscillating riffs but guiding them through endless harmonic pulsations, evoking the natural elements of water, air and light. The ambient drones ebb and flow like the gentle rhythm of the ocean, seamlessly shifting and evolving with each chord progression. Her manipulation of percussion and temple toms creates a symphony of nature's ever-changing weather patterns, which resonate with one’s senses and emotions.

Both electronic sketches and notes on a symphonic scale, Sou’s creations display a strange and ironic juxtaposition, being as there’s a bucolic idyll to the album, evoking the feel of a pre-industrial world. "The album conjures a sense of desire for a simpler time, yet it is also a celebration of modern technology and electronic music. The beats and melodies are in contrast to the pastoral setting, creating a sound I hope is both nostalgic and forward-thinking, blending the past and the present”, she comments.