If you’re curious about how I work — my methods, my process, the way pieces move from voice to electronics and back again — I recently spoke about all of it in this podcast. It’s a good place to start:
Over the past few weeks, a lot has come into the world at once.
We’ve just released IKI’s new album Body. It moves between the acoustic and the electronic — sometimes beginning as a simple melody, other times as a texture that grows into something more physical. Playing the release concerts at Momentum and Christianshavns Beboerhuset was incredible. We performed in a black box with new visuals, new outfits, new masks.
ALBUM, LP - THE BODY : https://ikivocal.bandcamp.com/album/body
Live, the electronic parts transform completely. Sometimes we imitate the electronics acoustically, letting the two layers melt into each other. I’ve always loved when the album and the concert aren’t the same creature. On stage, we also lean into some very tight melodic structures — “hockey style,” where we each sing one tone at a time, and the melody only exists because all of us are present inside it.
Two tracks have already been played on BBC, and we received a beautiful review from Westzeit (DE): ★★★★★
With their impressive voices, the women of IKI conjure a beauty that is as magical as it is surreal over the electronic foundations of Body (Tila). From pulsing loops to transcendent whisper (‘Run’), to radiant female choirs over unintelligible yet beautiful vocal smears (‘Remember’), this is the finest a cappella art, sometimes with accompaniment and sometimes without (for example in the particularly lovely short ‘Circuit’ pieces).
I also released a wonderful album with Christian Rønn called Shadow Moves in October. We had a great release concert where friends, family and collegues came- thank you all for coming. Shadow Moves consist of my voice, live electronics and Christian on prepared grand piano. This is our second collaborative album - following the critical acclaim debut Head ̈Space, on Chant Records. We continue to develop a shared sonic language rooted in improvisation and exploration. Shadow Moves is a journey into new musical terrain, where extended vocal techniques, prepared grand piano, and distinctive use of live electronics merge into a singular, organic whole. The music oscillates between lush acoustic textures and raw, abstract soundscapes.
Listen and buy LPs here https://nische.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-moves-2
Lovely review here: https://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/13205
What’s next
I’m now preparing to open an exhibition at Bornholms Kunstmuseum.
On the opening day there will be performances, and I’m creating the music inside a work by the artist Anders Herwald Ruhwald. His piece is called Den trætte sol (“The Tired Sun”), so my work is titled Behind the Sun. I’ll perform it with saxophonist Thomas Agergaard.
https://bornholms-kunstmuseum.dk/kalender/engangsarrangementer/%C3%A5bningsfest-anders-herwald-ruhwald/
And later this month, on November 24, I’ll be working with Linda Edsjö (SV) in the countryside of Paris. We are composing and developing together with Ingvild Rømo Grande (scenographer, NO) a concert/performance called Jeans in and hour — Ingvild will sew a pair of jeans in exactly one hour while we perform.
A recommendation
If you’re interested in new, experimental music — and appreciate curation from actual humans — I highly recommend this concert calendar:
https://knaekmusik.dk/
