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Bright Star

by Isnaj Dui

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about

“Isnaj Dui uses an array of instrumentation to create these transportive and beguiling sound worlds. … Flute tones stretch out, circulating like blood through the body, enriching everything it touches and finding life in unexpected places. Whimsical high-pitched flutters float by, drifting along on top of the peaceful drones. The music points in one direction, always moving forward along a cryptic rhythm toward a distant, beckoning horizon.” (from 'Foxy Digitalis' review; full review: foxydigitalis.zone/2021/08/06/isnaj-dui-bright-star)

"A quietly determined affair inspired directly by the John Keats sonnet of the same name, across three lengthy instrumental pieces this conceptual suite showcases English’s multi-instrumentalist skills – that straddle neo-classical and experimental spheres – with gravitas as well as immense subtlety." (from 'Concrete Islands' review; full review: concreteislands.com/not-turning-off-volume-10)

Katie English speaks with Max Reinhardt about the release on his ‘Late Lunch Show’ (interview begins at 2:02): www.mixcloud.com/sohoradio/max-reinhardts-late-lunch-show-12032021

IN BEING poetry-themed, 'Bright Star' is to some degree a sequel to 'Kubla Khan,' textura’s inaugural release—despite a twelve-year gap and the three label releases that appeared after that 2008 compilation. There is a major difference, however: whereas the first, inspired by the Coleridge poem, features original works by multiple artists, 'Bright Star' is by a single one, Isnaj Dui, otherwise known as Katie English. Drawing on John Keats’s sonnet for inspiration, the Halifax, UK-based artist produced three long-form instrumentals in her inimitable style that distill the poem into musical form.

The material English created is, however, allusive rather than programmatic. Asked to elaborate on her approach, she replied, “I often find Morse Code to be a nice starting point with some projects and used a few short phrases from the poem to create some of the rhythmic elements of the piece. I explored the conflict between love and death over distance and immortality, with the recurring deep drone representing the ever-lasting star, and dissonant melodies to tear at any sense of ease or comfort. Some of the melodic and rhythmic motifs come and go, each time in a slightly different form, as though ever-present throughout changes around them. Other melodic and harmonic phases create a sense of fragility and inevitable loss, as if content to be in the moment whilst all the time knowing it will end.”

“Moving Waters” sets the scene by draping haunting flute figures across a softly rumbling base, the entrancing lilt of its movement suggestive of the title’s subject matter. With flutes still softly intoning, glassy textures and gamelan patterns surface to deepen the entrancement in “Still Steadfast,” after which “Swoon to Death” pushes the material to its ethereal limit, the flutes returning to sing their seductive song one last time. English’s treatment limns the poem’s meanings in spellbinding manner, but to say any more would spoil both works; further, to impose literal ties between the text and sound material would be similarly diminishing. Here’s a case where interpretations are perhaps best left in the hands of the reader and listener.

More info is available in an interview textura conducted with English about the release: www.textura.org/archives/interviews/fivequestions_isnajdui.htm

ABOUT ISNAJ DUI

Katie English has been captivating listeners with her Isnaj Dui material for a number of years on labels such as Home Normal, Rural Colours, and FBox Records. Using flutes, home-made dulcimers, and electronics, English combines her classical flute training with interests in electroacoustic music and Balinese gamelan to create an intensely personalized music that sounds like no one else’s.

credits

released January 20, 2021

Written and performed by Katie English
Mastered by Ian Hawgood
Photography by Mateusz Łapsa-Malawski

Instrumentation: flute, bass flute, dulcimer, tuning fork, and other bits
Recorded at The Box Factory, Summer 2020

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