Christina Vantzou - The Reintegration of the Ear LP

Since her earliest work for the Kranky label, Vantzou has been conjuring unique, time-dilating sonic tapestries that bridge the gap between surrealist art, documentary filmmaking and luminous world-building. 'The Reintegration of the Ear' started life as a 20-minute commission for the INA-GRM, intended as an acousmatic performance designed to encourage deep, engaged listening. Reimagined in the studio with a talented crew of collaborators, Vantzou unspools acoustic elements with subtle, disorienting arrangements, never hammy or over-referential. When the ghosts of an orchestra materialise like aural hallucinations over JAB’s synth drones in the intro, Vantzou cuts to near silence, leaving us with bare traces rather than a saccharine hit. And when German soprano Irene Kurka's voice wisps across the stereo field over Oliver Coates' almost-silent, subby cello, it’s all kept in absolute harmony by Vantzou's controlled hand. Wind transforms into white noise, birdsong pirouettes with analog detritus, glitches whirr like a swarm of insects, painting a picture that's abstract and yet somehow immediately recognisable as Vantzou's own.