Laura Agnusdei – Flowers Are Blooming In Antarctica (MDR086)

Laura Agnusdei – Flowers Are Blooming In Antarctica (MDR086) (LP/Digital)

ORDER LP/Digital

out January 31st, 2025

Italian composer and saxophonist Laura Agnusdei returns with “Flowers Are Blooming In Antarctica” a career defining record that sees the artist diving into uncharted waters, a profound timeless meditation on our relationship with planet Earth, the eco-conflicts arising and the fascination with non human forms of life, backdropped to a vivid soundtrack of coral exotica, spiritual Jazz, fourth-world minimalism, tropical electronics, tribal futurism and contemporary elegance. 

Every step of Laura Agnusdei’s path, from electroacoustic experimentation to her constant research based upon the acoustic dimension of wind instruments and their interaction with polymorphic electronic sounds, seems to have pivoted into a new sense of awareness, as if the mind and intellectual practice has finally caught up with the body, the heart and the soul, resulting in her most organic and transcendent work yet. “Flowers Are Blooming In Antarctica” is loosely inspired around a trifecta of pioneering ideas that explore unconventional reality: James Bridle’s ‘Ways Of Being’ with his radical story that mixes ecology, tech and intelligence; Luigi Serafini’s late-70s fantastical ‘Codex Seraphinianus’, an unparalleled collection of flora, fauna, anatomies metamorphosed into new fragile beings; J.G. Ballard’s climate-fiction foreshadowing sci-fi ruminations. These influences shift Agnusdei’s musical trajectory injecting doses of terrestrial malaise, the earthy sub-saharan ‘Ittiolalia’ with its wah-wah filtered sax and trance inducing groove; the rubbery playfulness of ‘Oasi Bar’; the gentle eco-system of ‘P.P.R.N’ reminiscent of Herbie Hancock’s innovative synthesis of funk, space and synthesizers; the kaleidoscopic northern lights of ‘Emperor Penguin Lullaby’, where south-east Asian echoes reach icy shores; the Jon Hassell hyper-ambience of ‘Cuttlefish REM Phase’; the post-apocalyptic march of ‘The Drowned World, a jazz standard for an artificial civilization on the brink of self-destruction. Nothing feels out of place and it’s no coincidence that one of the most powerful messages on the record is delivered on centerpiece ‘Are We Dinos?’ via an interview conducted with two preschoolers. Radical optimism or sonic liberation?

Laura Agnusdei’s tenor sax cuts deep all across “Flowers Are Blooming In Antarctica”, a laser baton raised up to the clouds, a conductor orchestrating devotional soundscapes for a three-eyed dolphin, guiding us through prismatic pastures and acidic oceans. Her tropicalized realm is pin-pointed with Miles-like sheer clarity, a bristling nakedness on the verge of exploding at any time, creating an album where ascension becomes the unifying code. 

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“Flowers Are Blooming In Antarctica” is the first release of Opale, a series curated by Maple Death and publishing house Canicola Edizioni, sister imprints that for last decade have been exploring and researching the intersection of music and narrative through images and sound, giving life to new dialogues between the two languages, with a visionary and militant approach. Each Opale release will see the parallel production of an LP and illustrated book, linked together by a red thread that runs through atmospheres, emotional temperatures, glimpses of content, and collected in a precious limited edition box set that include posters and unique designs. Laura Agnusdei’s album is accompanied by artwork, images and an illustrated book by Daniele Castellano, member of the Ufficio Misteri collective and acclaimed illustrator for film, music and published internationally (Atlantic, New Yorker, New York Times). Inspired by Agnusdei’s sounds, Castellano reworked the album’s themes and narrative into images, giving them a vivid and intense drawn form. 

Credits

Composed, produced and mixed by Laura Agnusdei

Recorded between 2022-2023 at Sonic Temple Studio (Parma) by Andrea Rovacchi, Studio Buzzalino (Saliceto Buzzalino) by Laura Agnusdei and Giulio Stermieri,  WORM Studios (Rotterdam) by Laura Agnusdei and Giulio Stermieri, OFF Studio (Torino) by Paul Beauchamp

Mastered by Matt Bordin

Laura Agnusdei: tenor sax, electronics
Giulio Stermieri: farfisa organ, synthesizers, assistant production
Edoardo Grisogani: percussion, drum pads
Giacomo Bertocchi: alto sax, clarinet, flute
Ramon Moro: trumpet, flugelhorn
Teguh Permana: tarawangsa
Giovanni Minguzzi: drums

Artwork by Daniele Castellano
Design & layout eee studio