Isnaj Dui: Cereus
FBox Records

The material Katie English has produced under the Isnaj Dui alias, the project she initiated in 2005, has been uncompromising and, to her credit, has grown only more authentic and true to itself over time. A culmination of sorts is reached on Cereus, which embraces even more fervently the direction she's tacitly formulated for the venture. No concessions are made in nine pieces that capture fully the essence of the Isnaj Dui identity—which shouldn't be interpreted to mean the results are in any way difficult or impenetrable. On the contrary, each setting is a a fully realized and self-contained tone painting that's easily inhabitable.

Arriving after her Bright Star release (issued on—full disclosure—textura's own label) and a number of installations and collaborations (e.g., BEL, the EP she released earlier this year with Mark Kluzek), Cereus, released on her own FBox imprint, was crafted during the last two years and collectively reflects the ongoing refinement of the Isnaj Dui persona. Like those on English's earlier releases, the tracks on Cereus are instantly identifiable as Isnaj Dui productions, not only for the instrumentation and rhythms she favours—flutes, electronics, gamelan, etc.—but for the general tone of the material. Moody, haunted, impressionistic, cryptic, and absorbing are words that come to mind as the pieces, created by English at The Box Factory, aromatically flood the listening space.

Industrial churn and prickly smears undergird hypnotic flute figures and plucks in “Pursuing Hunters.” As the opening track develops, the music writhes like some mutant, just-born spawn as it establishes the album's enigmatic tone and evocative quality. “Humming Motors” wobbles, creaks, and convulses as if its innards are being extricated and examined for their sound-making potential. Flickering forebodingly, “Before Dawn” crawls like some bedraggled corpse newly exhumed from the grave. As element upon element adds to its lulling frame, “Flowing Circles” grows ever more entrancing, and much the same could be said of “Toy Cars” when it suggests the sputtering lurch of rusted-out wind-up toys. While English's music rarely suggests another's, the closing “His Peace” is grounded in a rising four-note motive that could have come from Philip Glass's pen.

June 2023