At the same time composer, multimedia artist and explorer setting out to conquer exotic sound worlds, the Danish Sofie Birch has a holistic approach to creation, with what the term implies of therapy. She describes her new album Holotropica as his “vision of a place of wholeness, serenity and clarity”, in tune with his understanding of “the healing nature of sound and vibration”. In other words: here is a Nordic spa soundtrack, but a luxury Nordic spa. Rich in terms of textures and harmonies, enough to transcend the ambient genre and sometimes bring it towards jazz (the free saxophone of Humidity), the dub (Hypnogogia) and the Japanese current known as “kankyō ongaku”, “environmental music” (for example on Surface Pan). The fine balance between synthesizers, natural instruments – brass, harp, flute – played by his collaborators and atmospheric sounds gives impetus to Birch’s soothing melodies. Each listen to this shimmering album is equivalent to two days of vacation.
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