Iceland is a place where time seems to run different. At once ancient and modern, the ring of settlements that dot the fringes of the Nordic island are unlike any other, and tend to exert a hypnotic feel on artists. SHHE is amongst them: real name Su Shaw, she’s a Scottish-Portuguese artist, and there’s long been a sense of place in her work. A major project on One Little Independent in 2019 was heavily rooted in her Dundonian locality, but this is something quite different indeed.
A four-part journey through ambient soundscapes, the glacial pace of ‘DÝRA’ seems to encourage slow listening. You allow yourself to absorb each and every note, with the project becoming a kind of aural painting. The sonic quadrangle – ‘Sandar’, ‘Hólar’, ‘Sandaá’ and ‘Hjallar’ – allow ideas to surface and then pass, drifting off into the expanse of time. It’s unlike other aspects of SHHE’s work – her utilise of melody is retained, but it’s slowed down, displayed in a distinctive manner.
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The curiously visual aspect to SHHE’s work is tied to the location the project was composed in. First travelling to Iceland in 2018, she worked from Dýrafjörður – a 32-kilometre-long fjord in the Ísafjarðarbær municipality – over a 10-day stretch. Returning each winter (pandemic allowing) for five years, the subtle changes and awareness of time seem to seep into the pores of her work.
The results are unique, and hard to fully categories. At times reminiscent of the modern classical of Kiasmos, say, there’s also a feeling that ‘DÝRA’ acts as functional music – a little like Brian Eno’s more theoretical work, for example.
Four pieces that shadow the passing of time, and honour the fading of the seasons, ‘DÝRA’ is ultimately a moving search for meaning in an era which seems dominated by an ominous sense of flux.
7/10
Words: Robin Murray
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