Zoe McPherson has made an audio/visual album, String Figures, exploring the disappearance of cultures as they clash with Westernism and virtual spaces. Bringing in a range of equipment including hardware electronics, throat singing, live instrumentation, and a huge range of ethnographic samples, she uses the idea of “String Figures” (an early means of communication) as a metaphor for this clashing of worlds.

The album is fundamentally one of duality, exploring the traditional and the contemporary, organic and electronic, audio and visual, history, and the future. Rooted in this duality is also a core theme around string being one of the most ancient, and playful art forms and the seemingly infinite possibilities it offers in terms of shapes, structures, and figures lines up with this as a trans-global art project. One that over time will involve video art, choreography, 3D motion design, macro film, instrumental, and electronic sound.

Over the seven tracks (which are laid out as chapters), the record explores glitchy electronics, dub-tinged grooves, polyrhythms, and a huge array of instruments. This cross-pollinates with the throat singing and experimental field recordings. All in all, it’s a deeply rhythmic, immersive, and forward-thinking piece of electronic-leaning music that remains just as danceable as it does experimental.

Ahead of the album’s March 2 release via SVS Records, you can download “iv. Komusar (moving)” via the WeTransfer button below.

iv. Komusar (moving)