Interbody is the sophomore release of Heli Hartikainen, following their extremely well received Chronovariations (September 2024). I’ll start this review with a question: Is the second step always harder than the first? At least in Hartikainen’s case Interbody is falling on eager and expectant ears.

Whilst I don’t want to compare the records too much, there is some sense in meditating on the differences and the direction Hartikainen has taken in this second artistic sally. Chronovariations, was a huge work encompassing Hartikainen’s debut,  exit from studies and touring schedule for the better part of two years. For me, it is clear that this first release is essentially a material study of the saxophone itself, hence any connotations of an intercultural variety are emergent properties of a systematic practice, as are moments of a more “musical” kind. 

Herein lies the biggest difference with Interbody, which is a work that is tapping into that intercultural quagmire of association and style. In my estimation, this is already commendable as it takes determination to step away from the subjective mode toward the more concrete. This can lead to a very different experience of listening, in both positive and negative; In terms of the two records back to back, it feels as though the material, which had a plainer microscopic approach in Chronovariations has become more excited in Interbody. We have bigger highs and lower lows, in manifold ways.

The funny thing is they work quite well back to back, Chronovariations has a primitivism to it, whilst Interbody is building some awareness of a “society” surrounding it. The musical language has become more sophisticated, the character more crystalline and through mixed pearls of association, a sense of identity is conceived.     

Oh, and also the tracks now have names instead of numerals. 

Overall, the record sits squat at just under the half hour mark, a good portion of time to explore the themes in one uninterrupted sitting. Each track generally introduces some new element which the “protagonist” tenor sax plays with, sometimes competes with and is at other times subdued by. 

From the pensive fade in of “Pneuma”, the opening track, the tenor saxophone is a near constant presence on the record. Swimming in a varied sound world of samples slowed and manipulated beyond recognition, as well as choruses of vocal fragments – I interpret the sax as the guide, the MC of the process going on here. 

So what is the process?

Well, the title of the record “Interbody” suggests to me an exchange of energy from one body to another – as in inter-textual, inter-dependant or inter-net. This is perhaps most clearly symbolised in the close mic’ing of the sax throughout the disc; incredibly close up, breathy, reedy. One feels every breath and key click as if the very bell of the horn was pressed upon the back of their crown. The extreme panning of the electronic elements seem to push the tenor even further in, a well executed sleight of hand. 

As for the character of the sax’s timbre, I would hazard a guess that Hartikainen has a Jazz sax background; there is a warm, reedy, almost fuzzy quality to the timbres of the instrument which are reminiscent of older jazz records to my ears. Despite the material being far from it, and from my limited knowledge on the subject, Ben Webster’s “In a Mellow Tone” came to mind as there are some similar melodic fragments in Interbody.  This allusion of something older is without a doubt no accident. The cover artwork features a disintegrating bust placed in a cuboid of text. Paired with the smokey sound design and lateral harmonic shifts (from time manipulation), they lucidly evoke a 𝕧-𝕒-𝕡-𝕠-𝕣-𝕨-𝕒-𝕧-𝕖 aesthetic. The title track “Interbody” conjures up a feeling of Blank Banshee in me, though who knows by what means exactly.

The highlight of the record for me is the ultimate track, ironically titled “Nadir”. 

The sax begins in a soothing register, nestled in swirling orchestral strings. Voicings are wide and open but the harmony remains pungent and complex. Paired with the husky sax, the whole has a decidedly “Charles Ives” colour to it. Although the Tenor has been our guide throughout, here feels like the first real sax solo on the record. It’s one last heroic breath of what was an already athletic 22 minutes of almost continuous airflow. Building gradually into the screaming tessitura of the instrument and back downwards, the structure literally inverts the meaning of the track! 

Breathy exhalations yearn out as the strings dissipate.

The EP features the use of vocal samples of a poem written by Hartikainen, in tracks “Tide” and “Aporia”. From the initial appearance of the text, it is almost impossible to make out a word from the multidimensional layering of voices alongside the sax pops.

“ristiveto” “kuuntele” “lovi” “haava” 

“pulling of the cross” “listen” “notch” “wound”

– was about the most I could decipher.

In the context of “Tide”, these monastic mutterings make me ponder about the religious imagery, and how it relates to the concept. In defence, the meaning of the text turns more outward and away from the sacred. Some interrogation about the Anthropocene, governments, soil, the surface or the earth and so on do become legible by the end of the track. 

To my ears, the textual element paired with the vaporwave aesthetic of the record are nice pieces of set and sound design in their own right, though, when mixed do have an effect on the overall meaning and subtext. The nostalgic and ecological have manifested together in the past in extremist and terrible ways… Perhaps it is a personal projection, but is there some allusion to a mystical connection of body and land present here?

In summary, I enjoyed this record. It holds a position somewhere between experimental sound design and minimalist jazz. The overall dramatic arc is satisfyingly maneuvred while maintaining a near constant outflow. Whilst I simultaneously admire the direction Hartikainen has taken this second foray, I do feel that the conceptual framework surrounding the EP would better be kept mysterious and sequestered within the music itself. The liner notes read like a pitch, and don’t artistically add to the project, they feel like a heavy handed use of exposition in a play or film for example. 

It’s not an easy balance to strike, perhaps it has always been so. It seems that now in the internet age, we are more interested in talking about the surrounding concepts of our music rather than the material itself. I feel we can get a little swept up, intoxicated on our own verbose descriptions – and trust me, the irony of writing this in a music review is not lost on me.

Suffice to say, listen to this record, make up your own mind. I at least am waiting with bated breath for what direction Heli Hartikainen third step could take us in!

 

Listen to the EP

Released by Multiphonic Works