In May 2022, CiS released the beautiful Kieran Mahon album “Morning Brings The Light”. At the time of release Kieran described the album thus:
“This album is about the micro world of a garden in a small coastal town. For two weeks either side of the 2021 summer solstice I routinely made field recordings of my garden from pre-dawn until the first stirrings of people beginning their days.
“Ending up with hours of recordings, I then spent a long period listening and immersing myself in the environment – the ebb and flow, the subtle changes in atmosphere, the conversations between birds and insects, the wind, clouds, trees and the nearby sea and the perception of light.
This is a time most of us are not conscious of. As such, despite morning being the subject matter, from a human point of view it is an album as much about sleep as awakening. The music therefore is as based on both an imagined world and a literal one.
“I recorded numerous modular synth pieces in response to the field recordings and then began to incorporate these back into the mix.
Conceptually I was inspired by Wendy Carlos’ Sonic Seasonings LP (1972), although the music in her case was made with a more dramatic quality. Whilst Carlos used very clear sign posts like the sound of rain, thunder, waves and wind in her work – playing out the narrative in almost cinematic way – was more intrigued by tiny details, sometimes stepping outside of real time to give several minutes focus on something that only lasted a second to two. I was also keen not to try and replicate sounds occurring naturally. I realised the folly of an elaborate synth patch being used to mimc the already generative and mesmeric sounds of simple bird calls or insect wings.”
This album is a direct follow up, and counterpoint, to “Morning Brings the Light.”
Kieran expands: “We now arrive at Winter Solstice in the same location in the garden at the same hours of the morning. Night holds on with the stars and planets mirroring the frost beneath them, until the sun slowly, gradually and dimly lights the sky over the garden. There are no fanfares from birds, there’s no awakening of insects. It’s still and quiet.”
This is a beautifully subtle and enthralling suite from Kieran, executed with his usual attention to detail, but with a gorgeous looseness and progressive builds, ebbs and flows over the 50 minute duration. It takes huge skill to sustain one of these pieces over an extended period and Kieran pulls it off magnificently, I think.
I sometimes ponder about the perfect time and situation for playing an album and Kieran has wonderfully captured the early morning vibe with both of these wonderful albums. Tip: Sunday morning for this one. The swells occupying the space as breakfast is served and the conversation slowly comes alive as sleep dust is rubbed from eyes.