Unsound releases the Community of Grieving EP by Zosia Hołubowska and Julia Giertz
Unsound has released Community of Grieving – an EP with several interconnected parts by Julia Giertz and Zosia Hołubowska. Head to Bandcamp to listen / purchase.
Originally commissioned for Unsound 2020 online as a shared collective listening piece, Community of Grieving is an audio ritual that draws on traditions of vesper and lament and merges sonic meditation, narration and audio essay.
Sung in Polish by Hołubowska, the opening lines translate as, "How false everything is in this wretched world". It sounds bleak, yet the intention of Community of Grieving is powerful, a testament to the way that music can unite people, both in joy and mourning – during stringent pandemic lockdowns around the world, the initial online broadcast connected with a audience discussion on Discord, led by Giertz and Hołubowska. Then, at Unsound Krakow 2021, the work was recreated as an immersive live performance. With reference points embedded in Slavic folk traditions, Community of Grieving now resonates in relation to the war in Ukraine – total sales from the EP until Sunday 27th March will be donated to Kraków-based Salam Lab, an organisation supporting Ukrainian refugees directly via their fundraiser here.
Philip Sherburne wrote of the EP in Pitchfork: “harrowing vocal harmonies and otherworldly ululations dissolve into thick sheets of digitally treated drones, techno rhythms, and ASMR-inspired breathing.”
Unsound also recently released the album Weavings with Nicolás Jaar’s Other People label, featuring Aho Ssan, Ka Baird, Angel Bat Dawid, Ellen Fullman, Dirar Kalash, Księżyc, Laraaji, Nicolás Jaar , Resina, Paweł Szamburski, Juliana Huxtable, Rolando Hernández Guzmán, and Wukir Suryadi and Rully Shabara of Senyawa. Recommending the album, Resident Advisor described Weavings as "an astounding, time-shifting accomplishment". You can purchase Weavings via Bandcamp.
We would also like to thank everyone who purchased music via the Unsound Bandcamp or items from the Unsound online store earlier this month – all sales will also go to Salam Lab – with your support we raised 3640 zloty in total.