Iden Reinhart returns under the Strië moniker and her first release for Serein. Her dense and provocative avant-garde electronics share the same spirit as some of our most beloved early experimental sound artists. Struktura is a heady and surreal trip into the far reaches of the imagination.
Inspired by modernist painters of the twentieth century, each track on Struktura shares its name with an abstract work of art. Many of these works can be viewed online and give some insight into the inspiration behind the music. One of the appeals of abstract art of any kind is that it is ambiguous and open to interpretation. There is pleasure to be found in viewing or hearing something without a definite narrative, allowing the mind to wander and find its own meaning.
I can’t guess what types of machinery might be responsible for making the noises on Struktura. Strange mechanical whirring, tearing and scratching, haunted bells, low and ominous rumbling and ethereal drones - whatever the source of these sounds they are a mystery now, abstracted, pulled and stretched like paint over canvas. Snatches of voice are caught but words are indistinguishable. This is musique concrète that in some ways hearkens back to the golden age of electronic experimentation. There is a playfulness and curiosity to it reminiscent of the early work of artists like Arne Nordheim and Pierre Schaeffer, full of theatrics and genuine surprises.
Far from being a purely experimental creation, Struktura is suffused with interlinking melodies and the whole album is underpinned with a wonderful musicality. With Struktura, Iden blurs the line between harmony and dissonance and paints an eerie, haunting and beautfiul picture with sound.