Kali Malone's latest release, Burning Song, marks a significant departure from the lengthy compositions that established her reputation in the drone music scene. Described as her "pop record" within the genre, the album features significantly shorter pieces that prioritize pure emotion over technical contrapuntal canon forms. While some might view this shift as a compromise, the result is a forty-minute collection of beautiful and plaintive tonality.
The recording takes place at Leipzig's Thomaskirche, where Malone performs on the Bach organ. This historic instrument resides in the church where Johann Sebastian Bach served as cantor for his final twenty-seven years and is buried beneath the altar. Malone noted that this setting made the space feel distinctly like a "church for music." The album features contributions from cellist Lucy Railton and Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))), who also happens to be Malone's husband, playing bowed acoustic guitar.
Unlike her previous works designed for listeners to get lost in, the compact forms and liberated mood shifts of Burning Song demand acute attention. The trio performs with intense synchronicity, incorporating sounds of crackle, breath, and scrape. The track Grieving Figure begins with a sustained note resembling a distant ship's horn before brightening like a fierce sunset, while Bells on a Branch transitions from the sound of a bee swarm to an utterly parched atmosphere. Railton's cello adds ominous circles amidst the drama of Crawling Ashore.
The emotional weight of the album avoids cheap sentimentality. The heavy opening notes of Map the Path are described as solemn yet startlingly direct, creating a sensation that Malone is lifting her fingers from the keys to shake the listener by the shoulders.
Sources: The Guardian Music.