Seaworthy and Matt Rösner - Deep Valley

A Closer Listen

Recorded during a week-long residency at Australia’s Bundanon Art Museum, Deep Valley is a testament to the property’s unique location, “on the banks on the Shoalhaven River, surrounded by towering sandstone cliffs, dense forests and unique animal species.”  The property respects the original Dharawal and Dhurga custodians, while the music honors Arthur Boyd’s statement, “you can’t own a landscape.”  Perhaps more properly for this release, one can’t own a soundscape, if by “soundscape” one means a local biophany; by the time the sounds are captured, the soundscape has already changed, like a river one steps into for the second time.

The hallmarks of the release are its use of field recordings and the gentleness of the music, which often seems to enhance the field recordings instead of the other way around: a sonic stand-in for the use of land.  Seaworthy and Matt Rösner allow the landscape to speak first, and instead of commenting on it, they seek to enter into a harmonious dialogue.  This means micro rather than macro melodies, sentences rather than paragraphs, with spaces in between.  “Fallen Trees on the Far Shore” allows the listener to think of ecosystems, as the trees nourish the soil and the birds chirp over the flowing stream.  Fallen is more natural than felled.

Thoughtful guitar, piano and (very light) electronics imitate the glitter of sunlight on water, the pathways of insects and animals, the opening of petals to the sun.  The surrounding area, now a wildlife sanctuary, has been the inspiration for generations of artists.  “Whispered Surfaces” best epitomizes this allure, with a lush biophany of thunder, water, bee and bird.  A full two minutes pass before the artists add their own music to an already perfect soundscape, as if reluctant to interrupt.  At the end, they fall again silent, drinking in the last rumbles of thunder.

The titles “Boundaries” and “Landscape, Shared” drive the point home.  When the field recordings and music find balance, there is little need for boundaries, for there is no infringement.  Different species find ways to share their soundscape, especially neighboring frogs and birds, operating at different hours; humanity has a hard time doing the same.  While Seaworthy and Matt Rösner do not specifically comment on noise pollution or land capture, they don’t need to do so; their point comes across, quietly and subtly, yet firmly.  (Richard Allen)