mātr by Paul Jebanasam

Paul Jebanasam’s third studio album draws from a sonic exploration of ecological and material consciousness, bringing together narratives of human and geological time in the face of a planet traversing crisis and emerging cataclysm.

The title mātr takes a dual meaning from the Sanskrit for ‘mother’, and a deviation of the Western word ‘matter’, positing the dialogue between human relations and material existence via a deep time centering of their duality. Through a questioning of the impact and custodianship of the material world, the album evokes the mother figure as both a nurturing embodiment and a planetary witness to humanity's capacious strengths and destructive tendencies.

The compositions consider Earth’s grandeur and precarity from superimposing timelines spreading chronologically forward and backwards, looking for the ephemeral human voice and transcendent possibilities within nature’s cosmic journey. The material takes inspiration from the eco-poetic writings of Jorie Graham, considering how current scientific understandings of the world and scales of crisis bring up vast and spiritual questions that traverse themes of time, mortality and faith. At its core the project meditates on the premise
that in order to reconcile this moment, humanity is called to shift its understandings of time, scale and material responsibility into an as yet unexplored paradigm.

mātr builds on Jebanasam’s recent doctoral thesis connecting sound and temporality, and has emerged from a series of commissions and residencies including the Arvo Pärt Centre, Tallinn; IRCAM, Paris; San Fedele Musica, Milan; and a collaborative project with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester. This trajectory has laid the foundations for mātr and its orbiting enquiries that continue to evolve as a growing research platform.

Paul Jebanasam is a composer and artist working across sound and moving image. With a background in electronic music and sound design, his previous albums include Continuum (2016) and Rites (2013) released through Subtext Recordings, a label that he played a key role in forming, developing and running between 2007-2014. Currently based in Bristol UK, his work has been presented internationally at festivals including Sonic Acts Amsterdam, Berlin Atonal, Semibreve Braga, Bozar Brussels, LEV Gijón, Sonica Glasgow, Dark Mofo Hobart, Némo Biennale Paris and Mutek Montreal and Tokyo.

Paul Jebanasam is a composer and artist working across sound and moving image.

https://www.pauljebanasam.com