#(uiq)

The title track begins as a pure choral piece a la Ligeti. There is a slight delay on the layered voices which gives them a ululating quality as if awestruck before sacred mystery. Ileto introduces strings which calm and gird the choir, lifting their spirits. A swell of organ and we could be seated in the cathedral of a progressively minded musical director and congregation. Then whop, literally. A profane belch of synth disrupts the choir. A struggle ensues before the voices reclaim their ascendency. “miserere” layers Basic Channel wobble and spaced-out percussion over mumbling voices to create a cavernous dub amid which a piano appears, echoing from a distant shaft. The piano resurfaces in “illumina”, lost in swirls of celestial white noise, a circular motif growing in strength as the track progresses. When she introduces club beats into the mix, the percussion provides a crisp, polyrhythmic counterpoint to her pointillistic backgrounds.The contrast between the mechanic and organic runs through Lux Aeterna, the balance continually in flux. Cognizant of their weight and presence, each element is in a constant state of replication and mutation which gives the music a writhing, restless quality. “arx” stomps along like a series of body blows, a disjointed 2-step with whipcracks of synth like malfunctioning strobes scything across bewildered club goers, as stunned by experience as the cathedral choir.

With allusions to the celestial, spiritual and corporeal, Corin Ileto produces thrilling results. Purists may quibble about her use of granular synthesis to produce the sort of effects Ligeti conjured with ink, voice, wood and catgut but that aside Lux Aeterna stands on its own merits.