When the XKatedral label was launched in 2015, very few people outside Stockholm had heard of the young artists for whom it served as a platform. More than a decade later, Kali Malone, Maria W Horn and Mats Erlandsson have become the faces of a new current in contemporary composed music. Using different means – though the old church organ often plays a role – this loose group of composers has collectively forged a new aesthetic: drone music that promised deceleration while the world moved at breakneck speed. Éliane Radigue and deep listening pioneer Pauline Oliveros, to whom the XKatedral supergroup Golden Offence Orchestra paid tribute in 2017, are key influences.
XKatedral Anthology Series I is the first instalment in a three-part series that makes gems from the back catalogue newly available. These six pieces were written between 2010 and 2020 and were mostly released on early DIY tape compilations. While Kristoffer Svensson’s gamelan-inspired vignette and the mind-bending collaborative track by Caterina Barbieri and Kali Malone indulge in rhythmic experiments, others opt for the maximalist minimalism with which XKatedral is associated today. A prime example is Marta Forsberg’s »Disquiet (Heart)«, built on sonic ambiguities – is this a string quartet, a church organ, a synthesizer? – and exploring alternative tonalities. Hypnotic, enveloping music – a clear highlight in a label catalogue worthy of rediscovery.
