Clang (DL)

– Special to Toneshift.net by Darren McClure

Jonas Kasper Jensen is a visual artist who also works in the realm of sound art and composition. Since 2010 he has released audio editions of his sound installations, under his own name and the Kasper Knigge moniker. Last year he released his first material that strayed from the gallery environment and relied on purely musical and composed elements. 2017’s Layers of Bridges on the Danish label Clang, explored the connection between music and art, and contained a sculptural quality that applied tactile textures to otherworldly drones. Recordings of girders and beams cast a heavy, wrought-iron feel to that release.

His new album, Within the Temporal Experience (available 9/28), again on Clang, is a continuation of Jenson’s interest in sound-as-object. The metallic tones of his previous release have been smoothed out, but not entirely flattened on this collection of six pieces. Stringed instruments have been processed to form expansive, slow building drones that cascade and immerse the listener. There is a sense of drama in these pieces, with subtle details shimmering in the spectral haze. Album opener “An Indeterminacy Of Silence” takes its time to fade into full volume, adding layer upon layer of harmonic colour, with occasional chord changes that steer the track in subtle new directions.

At times the material is static, but dense, like on “A Shape Within A Material”, where a sustained cluster of chords create cinematic tension. “From The One To The Other” is quieter, more restrained. A soft hiss dances on the periphery of the track, balancing out the frequencies between low-end ebbs and mid-range dust. These differences in tones are always complimentary, never competing, and allow the listener to really sink into the spaces between them.

The final piece, “The Passing By”, is an achingly beautiful way to close the album. An orchestral-like section that reminds me of Fennesz’s most heart-wrenching work, but minus the grit and noise. It shows that, despite being process-oriented and conceptual in nature, Jensen’s work is not without emotion.

Temporal Experience