Lisa Gerrard - 'Whalerider' (4AD)
4/5
By: Clara Burtenshaw
Rather fittingly, without perturb, listening to Gerrard's extravagant, latest work is very much akin to floating in a fathomless New Zealand ocean. Or, at the very least, entering some New Age Travellers store in West London.
So, yes - it's all eerie sea sounds and shapes which form the resonant backdrop to 'Whalerider', the acclaimed independent motion picture of this year. Strings, piano and soft, percussive beats are interwoven with Maori speech and harks, evoking the mellifluous ebbs and flows of sea-tide.
Notably, the success and effectiveness of the lush, filmic atmospheric - which hovers inadvertently throughout - lies in the use of actual instruments, as opposed to half-baked, aquatic recordings, echoing the spirit of whales and their respective ululations in taut faithfulness. And, as a whole, the soundtrack is both sombre and hopeful in equal measure - one not even having to watch the film in order to form an empathy with such striking work.
A true tour de force, having been written, performed and produced by Lisa Gerrard alone, 'Whalerider' is arresting ambient at its most starkest, multifarious and - best of all - seamlessly natural.
Artists in this article: Lisa Gerrard
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