Sun Turned Black [CD]

Paris-based composer and sound designer Niamké Désiré reaches into the depths of his soul on his third Aho Ssan album, determining a fresh sonic outlook that's more motivated by texture, poetry and intimacy than rigid structure or concept. It's a shift in approach that Désiré had already been considering for some time, even coloring the edges of last year's 'Ego Death', his acclaimed collaboration with Polish cellist Resina. But it took a trip to Ghana to confirm to Désiré that he needed to think less about concrete forms and embrace the raw, transformative physicality of sound itself. "What stayed with me most was the intensity," he explains. "An overwhelming, magnificent organization of noise." And it's this living, breathing chaos that surges through 'The Sun Turned Black', a suite of dense, impressionistic and often overwhelmingly beautiful abstractions that take their time to drift and evolve, never falling into an expected pattern. It's not an album that necessarily needs to answer any specific questions or arrive at a particular destination, Désiré instead prioritizes the experience itself, relishing the journey.