Jolanda Moletta is a multimedia artist and one-woman electronic choir. She experiments with wordless vocal-only compositions using layers, harmonies, and her remarkable vocal range. Moletta considers her live performances to be a collective ritual and created her Sonic and Visual Spells following the cycles of nature and the moon.
Karen Vogt is an experimental artist who moves between ambient and pop to create spacious, atmospheric compositions – often with long, drawn-out vocals. Vogt’s creative process is minimalistic and uses improvisation to channel emotions, moods, and instinctual responses. Imperfection and vulnerability of the voice are at the core of her work. The two artists have collaborated regularly and performed live together, either solo or with their bands (She Owl and Heligoland). Using an alchemical approach, the women combine spontaneous and emotive improvisation with a ritualistic point of view. Sharing a passion for world-building and a desire to convey a deeper meaning through wordless music, they offer a gentle intermingling of their voices for the first time in this longform piece.
We travelled to a coastal town in the North-West of France with minimal gear. Jolanda brought only one microphone and a laptop. Karen came with one microphone and three effects pedals. We planned to simply meet and make something together that captured that moment in time.
For both of us, the voice is often the essential component in our creative process and we consider it to be our main instrument. Our voices are a part of what makes us unique and also unites us. Breath moves through us with the transient nature of the wind as we emote, express ourselves, communicate information, and connect to something higher to transcend daily life. Suspended Between Worlds is where the voice hovers and lingers before the wind changes, the tide turns and the bird's wing cuts through the air. Inner worlds are externalised as we focus on the same thing but in different ways. The energy of our two voices merge for a moment in time and create a third entity which is the track itself. Karen recorded the sound of the birds close to the ocean while walking along the isolated Breton coastline. This audio snapshot was used as a loop woven into the track that would connect human voices and bird songs. Jolanda offered to create a full moon ritual around the improvisation bringing her spiritual perspective to the project. Incorporating magic, emotions, the moon, and nature while bringing intention and purpose to the improvisation session allowed the two artists to drop into their flow states while being aware of each other as their creative worlds met for 21 minutes. To be suspended between worlds is to be aware of yourself, your surroundings, and those around you. It’s a moment during improvisation where you are aware of being able to go within, while also interacting with the outer world.
Deep listening is an invitation to use sound as a way to be fully immersed in the senses and experience an altered state. To listen deeply is to trust the music and the sounds to take you somewhere else and to be willing to let it be a different experience than what you’re used to. It’s important to let things unfold slowly and to be in no rush for something to happen. In this way, you can let the music create an atmosphere that draws you in and expands your imagination.
Music has the power to create worlds. Deep listening allows us to enter these worlds and inhabit them. We must have contemplative spaces where we can recharge away from our personal and shared concerns, feel safe and inspired, and see the possibilities for positive change in the world.
Recorded in Winter, 2024 during the first full moon of the year.
Live improvisation took place in a coastal town of North-Western France, just a few hundred metres from the Atlantic Ocean.
Thanks to Arnold Bugnet.
Jolanda Moletta: vocals and vocal treatments
Karen Vogt: vocals, vocal treatments and field recordings.
Composed, mixed, and produced by Jolanda Moletta and Karen Vogt
Mastered by Simon Scott.