Celetal Form

Mining the rich seam between transcendental escapism and crushing physical pressure, Sciama delivers his first album for Samurai Music. Exploring an energetic pitch between half-time and full-tilt 170, the London-based producer sculpts brooding soundscapes of sheer peaks and deep pits, driven by unrelenting but light-footed forward motion and an imposing strain of sound design. As Sciama, Michael Watters has been marking out his exacting sound since 2019 with an assured run of albums on ASC's Auxiliary label. His second EP for Samurai, the "Wave Interaction" 12" released earlier this year, pointed to his current area of focus inspired by the teachings of electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram. Contemplating the relationship between precise electronic frequencies and human perception, "Celetal Form" now delivers the full findings of his exploration. Oram coined the term 'celetal' in her 1972 book 'An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics', trying to sum up a connection between the celestial and electrical. It's this spiritual dimension contained within sound waves that Watters is concerned with, and the shape of the music on "Celetal Form" follows suit. There is agile, brittle top-end percussion at work on the likes of 'Induced Resonance', perhaps the most closely connected to D&B, while 'Rational Echoes' and 'Scanning Waveband' deal in urgency and techno-coded tension. A half-time roll guides the huge kick drum undulations of 'No Panacea', and 'Celetal Emergence' opens up into more spacious surroundings to let the subtle microtonal inflections of the synth tones set a curious mood.'Intermodulation II' brings Watters' exacting approach into sharp focus, pushing the drums back and foregrounding alien frequencies that coalesce into unfamiliar yet strangely uplifting forms. Throughout "Celetal Form" this uncanny sensation charges the music with a power that reaches beyond it's immediate, surface level impact. This intentional reflection on Oram's visionary thinking charges the current sound of Sciama with energetic intrigue that stands apart and invites a mindful, maybe even spiritual, engagement.