SIMON FISHER TURNER - INSTABILITY OF THE SIGNAL

Released: 02/08/24

Simin Fisher Turner is one of the most important names in British avant-garde music. Whether it’s his extensive soundtrack work for films such as Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio and Blue, and Mike Hodges’ Croupier, his many solo albums, such as 2017’s Giraffe, or his collaborations with younger experimental electronic artists such the great Klara Lewis (2018’s Care), everything Fisher Turner puts out into the world is a must-listen. The man simply doesn’t do ‘average’. 

On the wonderful Instability of the Signal, inspired by the late trio of artist Breda Beban, director Hrvoje Horvatic, and Harold Pinter, whose verses, 'Democracy' and 'The Special Relationship’ feature on the record, beautiful string arrangements by the Elysian Collective and ambient electronics combine for one of the most beautiful contemporary classical records I’ve heard in a long time. There are many highlights here, including ‘Turning Slowly’, in which Arvo Pärt-ian strings, a shimmering drone, and musique concrète sounds ebb and flow; and the sublime ‘I Can’t Hear Anything’, featuring glacial piano, more concrete-style samples, synths and disjunctive spoken word that brought to mind Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano’s 'Anata' from 2019's FRKWYS Vol. 15: serenitatem.