Immersed Sensibilities by Antonina Car

“Phenomenons and events occurring in nature are the ultimate source of metaphors for every human condition. Nature perfectly shows us its strength and vulnerability, poetically flawless in its beauty and ferocity. Immersed Sensibilities is an attempt to transcribe feelings, stories, and events into a synthetic, self-contained sonic universe. It's a reflection of the
intensity with which humans often imagine their emotional presence matters.” - Antonina Car

Immersed Sensibilities is Antonina Car's debut LP album. Working on the album, the artist spent half a year in seclusion, in her home studio, composing and recording practically every day. That way, she could focus on ideas and experiment with all available resources. At first, the album was intended to be instrumental. During the composition process, the artist arranged subsequent layers of sound by humming, however, she began to perceive the voice as another instrument. Antonina used the violin, baritone violin, cello, keyboards, and synthesizers, recording all these instruments herself. The last track includes a flute and a clarinet played by a composer from Malaysia, Zurfahani Batrisya.

In the sounds, song titles, and original lyrics, the artist repeatedly refers to the idea of fluidity and ambivalence as a form of understanding and accepting transitional states in life. According to her, fervency is an emotional state that reflects the transfigurative character of nature. Antonina's works introduce the listener to a specific sonic "biosphere" in which we hear synthetic "beings", invented, and pictured by the imagination. The voice fragments are a reference to the listener's consciousness because the words are the only recognizable element - reminiscent of human reality.

The sounds in the tracks are electronically processed. Fragments that resemble field recordings (wind, thunder, rustling) are designed entirely digitally. The last piece on the album is a form of a manifesto. This is the only song in which the artist does not play string instruments. Instead, she focuses on the narrative, and this time a real field recording appears in the song - subtle footsteps on the forest ground. The song correlates with the artist's journey and it’s a form of a letter written to oneself. It combines a disorderly and uncertain beginning with a resolved yet subdued ending.

(Header by Zuzanna Kołodziej)

Antonina Car is a young music artist from Poland. In her works, she focuses on recording acoustic instruments and processing their sounds electronically. She devotes most attention to string instruments. Her main area of interest is the design of sound structures, which she creatively combines with violin harmonies and improvisation.

antoninacar.com