trans by Markus Mehr

trans plays with the idea of change, movement and overcoming. And although the departure for something new also means saying goodbye to the tried and tested, the 6 tracks do not sink into melancholy. There is a radiant power in the electro-acoustic pieces, which aurally explore the bipolar positions between digital awakening and analogue past.

Mehr implements the transformation processes that are evident in culture, society, politics, sexuality, language, etc., by alternating his compositional methods and tools. In a departure from his other works, he uses a conventional piano, which significantly characterises the static nature of the album in three pieces. Long drones form the antithesis to the concrete piano works and distance the album from neo-classical music. Phonographs, found sounds, field recordings - Mehr's favourite instruments - remain present, but play a more restrained role (than usual). Sounds are also microscopically dissected in trans, granulated, crushed and enlarged, refined and reassembled, but rather form the framework for the respective track. And it is precisely these sound experiments that give the compositions their very own dramaturgy and surprising twists and turns. Like an author, Markus Mehr places his sound actors in a contained narrative over the course of 40 minutes.

The titles of the compositions cautiously hint at different trans-positions. FORM, meanders within fluid boundaries, deals with the circulation between open possibilities. PORT imagines harbours as transhipment points for ‘even more of everything’, into an already derailed world. LATE celebrates the longing for harmony in such turbulent times through sensitive and delicate chord sequences. It is the interplay between drones and piano compositions that makes the album so fascinating. They mark the starting point and the destination, offering us sonic companions on the way in between. They provide us with utopias, move us through their inner peace and encourage us to open our doors and ears to new possibilities.

trans is curiosity turned into sound, exuberant/euphoric, addicted to harmony, serious, opulent and filigree, full of vitality. The album is a sound plea for transformation and yet unmistakably haunting in its shy manner.

Markus Mehr’s debut, Lava, holds true to its title – it is a dense, steaming surge of glue-thick sound. But, after any destructive force there is new growth. Green shoots of melody arc out of the surface and populate the terrain as new possibilities emerge.

Markus Mehr's music is available for licensing. Email Cam at Hidden Shoal for more details: cam[@]hiddenshoal.com

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