A Song We Destroy to Spin Again, by Kim Moore

A Song We Destroy to Spin Again by Kim Moore, released 18 August 2023 1. A Song We Destroy to Spin Again 2. Light to Come (excerpt) 3. Drift (excerpt) Glasgow-based composer, sound designer and musician Kim Moore presents her astonishing new 23-minute contemporary classical piece 'A Song We Destroy to Spin Again', performed by the award winning chamber music duo GAIA – violinist Katrina Lee and cellist Alice Allen. When Kim began writing 'A Song We Destroy to Spin Again' during the first lockdown in 2020, she was keen to distil a sense of collective grief and loss into something hopeful for the future. “How can we move from a place of darkness into something new and better?”, she asked herself, as Australian bush fires were burning, protests were taking place for George Floyd in America and coronavirus was spreading. Known for her dark ambient soundscapes, Kim has worked extensively in theatre and dance, composing for theatre makers including Kieran Hurley, Jenna Watt, Barrowland Ballet and Magnetic North, as well as Edinburgh’s Traverse, the National Theatre of Scotland, Soho Theatre and The Barbican in London. Earlier in her career, she released two albums with her indie pop band Zoey Van Goey on Chemikal Underground before focusing on immersive sound art and experimental electronic projects. Kim has created scores for film and TV and in 2019 she co-founded 'We Are Witches', where she makes short music films involving young people. 'A Song We Destroy to Spin Again' came about after Kim was commissioned by Chamber Music Scotland. Kim began by recording string solos that she shared with GAIA’s Katrina Lee and Alice Allen, who both studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. GAIA re-recorded Kim’s melodies and sent them back to her to be sampled and manipulated using Ableton software and analogue tape loops. Kim’s background is electronic production and pop and GAIA’s style is classical, but the collaboration easily found a middle ground, where dissonant melodies, distorted electronic effects and ominous percussion come together. The piece, which Kim describes as “a journey with six movements”, opens with solemn and foreboding strings. Their slow, plaintive drones are underpinned with metallic reverberation from distant bells. A forlorn melody drifts in, giving way to chinks of light as the tone shifts gradually, making way for subtle glimmers of hope amongst the melancholy. “I added bells as they have so many meanings,” explains Kim. “Church bells bring people together, but can also be a call to action, an alarm – I like that beneath the bells is this undercurrent of feeling that you need to wake up, or something isn’t right. I wanted them to convey this need for change.” GAIA met with Kim to make a live recording which is being released on Blackford Hill. “After so long in lockdown it was a reminder of the special magic that comes from being in the same room as music being played live”, Kim says. “I’ve always loved minimal music. It’s definitely not easy listening,” says Kim. “Listening to minimal contemporary classical music is often not passive at all. It requires concentration but if the piece manages to hold you enough in a space, it can resonate emotionally. It allows your mind to drift and maybe that’s where changes can happen.”