photos by Houssam Mchaimech, courtesy of the Arab American National Museum
“…it sees her reach even more aspects of sound with her vast music and the results are both hypnotic and ethereal in equal measures.” – Echoes And Dust
Echoes And Dust is hosting an exclusive stream of Calls From A Seething Edge, the fifth solo album from LEILA ABDUL-RAUF, alongside an interview with the artist. The premiere lands in advance of the album’s release this Friday, a co-release between Cyclic Law and Syrup Moose Records.
Known for her evocative and boundary-pushing soundscapes, Calls From A Seething Edge sees LEILA ABDUL-RAUF delivering her most ambitious project to date. Here, the multi-instrumentalist/composer performs all vocals, trumpet, synth, and a variety of programmed beats, drum tracks, choirs, and string quartets, self-recording and producing the album with assistance from Sammy Fielding (Ancient Owl Audio), who also masterfully mixed the album, ensuring each layer of synth, horn, drum, choir, and string quartet could be fully realized. The enigmatic photography gracing the album’s cover is by psychoanalyst, artist, and poet Terrance McLarnan, and the mastering was handled by Frederic Arbour at Cyclic Law Mastering.
Additionally, the album features contributions from several talented musicians, including Gregory C. Hagan (ex-Common Eider, King Eider, ex-Thomas Carnacki) who provides viola solos that backbone and bookend the album, acoustic guitar from Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold, Dream Unending), hand percussion and additional drum sampling by Sam Foster (ex-Saros, ex-Weakling), violin from Ryan Honaker (Ionophore, Betterthief), electric cello and upright bass from Vincent van Veen (Kali Ra), and acoustic upright bass by Ed Lloyd Grey.
Alongside their premiere of the album, Echoes And Dust interviewed LEILA ABDUL-RAUF, the piece reading in part, Calls From A Seething Edgeis the latest mesmerizing solo album from multi-instrumentalist and composer LEILA ABDUL-RAUF and it sees her reach even more aspects of sound with her vast music and the results are both hypnotic and ethereal in equal measures.”
Immerse yourself in LEILA ABDUL-RAUF’s Calls From A Seething Edge first only at Echoes And Dust RIGHT HERE.
Calls From A Seething Edge will be released this Friday, October 11th, digitally, on vinyl through Cyclic Law [100 copies on Marbled Black And White, 200 copies on Black, in a gatefold sleeve], and on tape via Syrup Moose [limited to 50 with a UV printed cassette], with both labels co-releasing the album on CD. Find preorders for all formats where the videos for “Crimes Of The Soul” and “Summon” are playing HERE.
Additional videos/singles from the album are being completed and will be issued over the weeks ahead.
Following a set at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, LEILA ABDUL-RAUF has booked a record release show in Brooklyn, New York on December 18th with Gridfailure, Compactor, and Taksǝs.
LEILA ABDUL-RAUF Live:
12/18/2024 Hart Bar – Brooklyn, NY *LP Release Show w/ Gridfailure, Compactor, Taksǝs [info]
LEILA ABDUL-RAUF has been a key member in dozens of musical entities since the 1990s, including Vastum, Ionophore, Cardinal Wyrm, Fyrhtu, and more in recent years, preceded by time spent in Amber Asylum, Hammers Of Misfortune, Bastard Noise, Saros, and more. Over the past decade she’s showcased her talents as a composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist through four varied solo efforts, each one more challenging than the last and venturing into new territory of sound and reaching new heights of creativity.
Since her Phantasiai LP in 2021, LEILA ABDUL-RAUF has navigated a world transformed by pandemic emergence, ongoing global conflicts, the resurgence of widespread fascism, and ecological destruction. The new album Calls From A Seething Edge is a powerful, conceptual reflection of these immense global and personal upheavals, an album which questions whether an alternative to our destructive ways of operating is possible on a mass level or if they are an inescapable part of the human condition. Moving away from the ambient dreamscapes of her previous works, this album embraces a more epic and rhythmic approach, introducing elements of folk and industrial music. Each note is intentional, articulate, and exposed, creating a sonic journey that is both vast and intimate.
The world is on edge. Embrace the void as LEILA ABDUL-RAUF‘s Calls From A Seething Edge takes you to the seething edge of existence. This album teaches us to breathe without breath and live where there is no life. Wartime never began… never did it end.
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