A Closer Listen
Hic sunt dracones, declares Istanbul artist Hüma Utku; here be dragons. The artist is traveling into “uncharted territory” on her new album, physically and metaphorically. One can witness this as early as Marco Ciceri’s video for “Comfort of the Shadows,” with performance by Catrina Politi. Human surfaces are visible, along with unfamiliar, jutting bones, hands beneath flesh, a sense of disorientation. One set of electronics soothes while another discomforts. The key to the video and album is both more benign and more terrifying than the ancient seas; Hüma Utku composed this music while pregnant. At the same time as the baby is either luxuriating in a cozy womb or trying to get out, one can imagine the artist trying to do the same, struggling for self-definition in the midst of blur. The flexibility of her music, which touches upon modern composition, electronic and drone, allows her to succeed.
For a time, the mother is both mother and child, the music form and not-form. “A World Between Worlds” features Mihalis Shammas on self-made Lyraei, a modern, keening lyre. Then the massive electric chords come crashing in, like sudden awareness or fear. Just as suddenly, they recede and restart. The effect is disorienting; it’s hard to get one’s bearings, and dragons lie about. Only in navigating these waters will the artist and embryo find their way to shore.
The title “A Familial Curse” connotes the trepidations of parenthood. Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors? Should we resign our children to the same fate? Or shall we sail forth, undaunted, determined to chart a new path? This is Hüma Utku at her most industrial, as dark, crunchy beats inhabit the center of the ocean. Only at the edges does the darkness dissipate, as cello notes break up the clouds.
In subsequent tracks, the mother-to-be samples her own ultrasound, making Dracones baby’s first album. With such a start, what might one expect from the (now newborn) son? The implications are exciting, and as the album develops, one senses a tilt toward expectation. “A House Within a House” starts with a cold wind, imitates a steam engine, and ends in a warm glow. By the closing track, the boat has sailed between dragons and discovered a new home. (Richard Allen)
Wed Apr 02 00:01:59 GMT 2025