Aaron Martin and Dag Rosenqvist and their musical collaboration as From The Mouth Of The Sun seems to elicit immediate excitement from an ever-growing number of modern classical, post-rock and experimental music fans from around the world. The duo appears to be on a mission to bring their dynamic breed of electro-acoustic classical to the masses this year. From composer David Wingo selecting three From the Mouth of the Sun songs to appear in the critically acclaimed sci-fi thriller ‘Midnight Special,’ to their first original score for A24’s feature film ‘Menashe,’ praised at Sundance and in theaters this summer, Rosenqvist and Martin are well on their way to receiving the recognition they deserve.
‘Hymn Binding’ is the pair’s third album as From the Mouth of the Sun, and their first for US label, Lost Tribe Sound. The album is teeming with all the soul-stirring character one has come to expect from their work together. The long form crescendos built from Martin’s mournful strings and vast array of acoustic instrumentation are a perfect compliment to Rosenqvist’s delicate piano melodies, humming electronics, and waves of warm static.
At the core, From the Mouth of the Sun’s sound is comprised of cello, piano, acoustic guitars, lap steel, banjo, ukulele and pump organ. Yet with ‘Hymn Binding’ they’ve allowed those acoustic sources to change shape, at times turning them into something that more resembles synths or digitally rendered sounds. They do this, not as a means of disguising them, or really wanting them to sound like synths, but to bring out new layers from already existing timbres.
Rosenqvist mentions, “There’s something very beautiful and rewarding to working with acoustic sound sources. Because when you record them, you never know what you’re going get, and you can never repeat it exactly the same way. The wood in the instrument changes from air pressure and with different temperatures. You change your sitting position from one take to another and all of a sudden it sounds slightly different. You move the microphone or you move something in the room and it sounds slightly different. Acoustic sound sources allow for chaos to be a part of the creative process, allowing for something you can never fully control."
While From the Mouth of the Sun’s first album ‘Woven Tide’ took the first tentative steps, and ‘Into the Well’ was an attempt to create something more acoustic and stripped down, “Hymn Binding” is a fully realized vision. It is bigger, with a broader sound palette and more full-on arrangements. And with that understanding, it is no wonder Martin & Rosenqvist are proud to call it, one of the strongest works they’ve ever recorded.
Without revealing too much, ‘Hymn Binding’ is an album predicated on the rise and fall. It has little fear taking deep breathes between each movement, reveling in the most minimalistic and subdued moments only to make the massive peaks of sound seem all that much larger. What makes a masterpiece, is always subjectively at the mercy of the beholder. Yet From the Mouth of the Sun make a strong case with ‘Hymn Binding,’ that the pairing of two such individually talented musicians can create a synergy and timelessness all its own.
‘Hymn Binding’ was given the deluxe vinyl treatment. The edition arrives as a lacquer cut vinyl pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl, housed in a matte finished gatefold tip-on jacket with artwork throughout from Gregory Euclide (Limited to 300). The deluxe edition also comes with a download card offering a choice of formats including FLAC, 320K MP3, etc. Mastering for vinyl and digital was performed by Taylor Deupree. The CD edition is also a work of art, housed in a heavy stock, handcrafted 7" x 5" book-style case with glass mastered CD and a download card for the album in high quality format (Limited to 150). The first 50 editions of both the vinyl and CD will come with a 6.5" x 5" print of the cover art by Gregory Euclide when purchased directly through LTS.
released September 22, 2017
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Originally released on Lost Tribe Sound. See Catalog:
losttribesound.bandcamp.com
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MUSIC FOR WALKING AND NOT CRYING IN THE AUTUMN RAIN (Best of list) - HEADPHONE COMMUTE
MARC'S FAVORITE RELEASES THIS YEAR - HAMMOCK
2017’S BEST ALBUMS, COVER ART & VIDEOS: NICOLA ORLANDINO - SON OF MARKETING
2017 IN REVIEW: JOURNEYS IN MODERN & EXPERIMENTAL CLASSICAL - STATIONARY TRAVELS
FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2017 - IRREGULAR CRATES
ACL 2017 ~ TOP TEN MODERN COMPOSITION - A CLOSER LISTEN
TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2017 - TOME TO THE WEATHER MACHINE
100 BEST AMBIENT ALBUMS OF 2017 - POST AMBIENT LUX
BEST ALBUMS OF 2017 - DIVE INTO THE SUN
"If From the Mouth of the Sun's mission in this instrumental miniature is nothing more than beauty itself, they have succeeded on a disproportionate scale." - NPR CLASSICAL: SONGS WE LOVE (
smarturl.it/ftmots.songs.npr)
"Hymn Binding harnesses the possibility of electronic instrumentation and the warmth of acoustic sound into a resonant, breathtaking melody." - NPR: ALL SONGS CONSIDERED (
smarturl.it/ftmotsnprasc)
"Tight electronics succumb to pulsing waves of static, and as such, this isn’t a generic modern-classical record. Aaron Martin and Dag Rosenqvist thankfully push the boundaries of the genre until it is in effect genre-less, fusing an electro-acoustic sound with an array of softer electronics and lean experimental textures which are then melded together in colours of dull bronze and Martian copper...a well-developed album played in the key of a mournful goodbye, an unrequited feeling, a deep longing." - (James Catchpole) FLUID RADIO (
smarturl.it/hymn.fluid)
"To choose a highlight among highlights, the devastating one-two punch delivered from the glowering power of “Risen, Darkened” followed by the healing beauty of “Roads” is one of the most astonishing musical moments I’ve experience this year. But this is where words begin to fail. Hymn Binding is is simply not to be missed." - STATIONARY TRAVELS (
smarturl.it/hymn.st)
"That core instrumentation remains from prior releases, meaning textural foundations of cello, piano, various guitars from electric to banjo, pump organ and lap steel. Isolated instances of glockenspiel and heavily distorted drums bleed unexpected dyes into the fabric. These voices combine to form compositional arrangements that are grand, patient and considered, each yarn biding its time before entering the fabric."(Chris Redfearn-Murray) - A CLOSER LISTEN (
smarturl.it/hymn.acl)
"From the Mouth of the Sun make beautiful, melodic soundscapes unconcerned with genre signifiers like modern classical, post-rock, electro-acoustic, etc. Their new album, Hymn Binding, finds power in transformative repetition, emotional melody and patience." (Peter Ellman) - EXCLAIM
"Una sinergia che gradualmente continua a consolidarsi facendo di From The Mouth Of The Sun un progetto imprescindibile per chi ama perdersi in un uggioso mare di cristallina bellezza." - SOWHAT (
smarturl.it/hymn.sowhat)
"Hymn Binding exchanges the grandiose build-ups and crushing climaxes that occasionally surface on Rosenqvist's Jasper TX albums for a more measured kind of drama. There are escalations and climaxes, to be sure, but here they're subtler, and it's not uncommon for the music to be pitched at the level of a delicate hush. Theirs, in short, is a painterly sound that nevertheless packs a punch, even if the music generally resists rising to decibel-shattering levels." - TEXTURA
"A musical landscape full of contrasts, where melodies and ominous textures intertwine." - AMBIENT BLOG (
smarturl.it/hymn.ab)
"BEST ALBUMS OF SEPT. 2017" - "Les arrangements du duo sont en effet tellement denses et viennent puiser si profond dans l'âme de l'auditeur qu'aucun mot ne saurait rendre grâce à cette ambition qui n'a pourtant d'égale que la tendance des musiciens à réprimer toute forme d'orgueil." - INDIE ROCK MAG
"From the Mouth of the Sun have delivered a stunning album and have carried on Lost Tribe Sound’s outstanding the Prelude to the Decline series. They show how to make deeply textured music seem effortless and reward the listener with an album to enjoy endlessly. Totally recommended." - DRIFTING, ALMOST FALLING
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Music and Arrangements by Dag Rosenqvist & Aaron Martin
Mastering by Taylor Deupree at 12k Mastering
Artwork by Gregory Euclide
Layout and Design by Ryan Keane
© Dag Rosenqvist / Aaron Martin / Lost Tribe Sound LLC
Published by Settled Scores LLC 2017
"Roads" video footage edited and used with permission from Paxti Araujo (taken from the original film "Terra Nullius") -
vimeo.com/173679093
ftmots.bandcamp.com
aaronmartin.bandcamp.com
dagrosenqvist.bandcamp.com
gregoryeuclide.com