(2020) Faten Kanaan - A Mythology of Circles


Review:
Based in Brooklyn, Faten Kanaan is a German experimental composer whose mesmerizing work is built around haunting, cinematic synthesizer loops played manually without the aid of sequencers, samplers, or arpeggiators. Although she has been involved in New York’s underground electronic scene since moving there in the mid 2000s, her recorded catalog begins a decade later with captivating sets like The Botanist & the Archaeologist and Pleiade Hex 6. On A Mythology of Circles, her first album for U.K. indie Fire Records and fourth overall, Kanaan weaves themes of cosmology, mythology, and mysticism into thirteen cyclical pieces that seem both vaporous and grounded. The subtle nuances in her distinctive looping approach and her apparent reverence for nature gives the music an earthy, organic feel while her crystalline synth tones, choral samples, and harp-like leads rise effortlessly into the ethereal mist. Much like her German forebears Tangerine Dream, Kanaan is a natural spellcaster of analog synth warmth, creating fantastic worlds on tracks like “The Archer” and “Hesperides,” two standouts referencing Greek mythology. Accentuated by the album’s vinyl release, A Mythology of Circles is divided into a “dusk to evening” side, and an “underworld/dream-state” side which helps build a sort of sonic narrative. The sense of spiritual uplift that characterizes the front half slowly gives way to darker hues as parts become more distorted and textured like on the haunting “Rêve-Rivière” and the cavernous “The North Wind.” Just as powerful and beautiful as their above-ground counterparts, these songs suggest inner journeys and fathomless depths. It’s a striking album of hidden layers and plenty of craft that entrances from start to finish.





Tracklist:
01 - Patagonia Motet 1: Lago
02 - The Archer
03 - Hesperides
04 - Birds of Myrrh
05 - Night Tide / Anteros
06 - Sleepwalker
07 - Mist & Madrigal
08 - Rêve-Rivière
09 - Erewhon
10 - Patagonia Motet 2: Andes
11 - The North Wind
12 - The Heron
13 - Ishtar Terra


Media Report:
Genre: ambient, classical, electronic
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits