Maya Shenfeld's debut release, 2022's
In Free Fall, was an illuminating effort which blurred the lines between drone, noise, electronic, and modern composition. Follow-up
Under the Sun was composed and produced between a Berlin studio and in Portugal, at one of the world's deepest marble quarries. The album is thematically preoccupied with the natural world, reflecting on impermanence, particularly with factors such as climate change threatening the earth's stability. "Tehom" is one of the album's pieces incorporating field recordings from the quarry, and its distant crashes and scrapes are accompanied by dark, subtle electronic vibrations. The quarry sounds were recorded on an extremely hot day, yet even the noisiest and most dissonant pieces on
Under the Sun don't sound as scorched, abrasive, or deconstructed as
Shenfeld's previous album. The uplifting "Interstellar" gazes toward the cosmos, with rippling, tempo-shifting synth arpeggios and extended melodies. The piece is easily the album's lightest and most optimistic moment, as the rest can feel cold, ominous, and sometimes challenging. Still, the album's more mysterious aspects make it worth hearing. The haunting voices of the
Ritter Youthchoir get dissolved into ashes during "Light, refracted" and "Analemma." "Sedek" features
Emptyset's
James Ginzburg, and it sets stark, dulcimer-like clanging against rustling, steely electronics and cavernous booming. ~ Paul Simpson
