Using field recordings collected in the subtropical Gardenia region of South Africa, Polish musician and composer Michael Jacaszek blurs the line between the real and the synthetic. ‘Waterhole’ sets electroacoustic howls against the captured chatter of insects and rustling of exotic undergrowth, overlapping them in such a way that the listener questions where one ends and the other begins. By the time ‘Ruins’ closes the record, this disorientating sonic effect ensures that even the familiar chirp of birdsong appears strange and alien, pulling us further into the mix.
