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Bridget Ferrill & Áslaug Magnúsdóttir
November 2022
Bridget Ferrill & Áslaug Magnúsdóttir’s music revels in the joy of complexity. A first collaborative release from the long-distance duo, Woodwind Quintet is an exercise in contrasts that quivers with electric pulses and patches. They crack, split, and weave through intricately embroidered classical elements in intimate and unexpected arrangements. Sonic fragments and scrambled instrumentation are disrupted by signal noise and rapid tempo shifts. Illogical compositions lead the listener along a dynamic meditation on beauty in alienation.
US-born Ferrill first met Icelandic Magnúsdóttir in Reykjavík in 2014. Originally from New Hampshire (by way of Rhode Island), the composer, synth-builder and engineer spent a few years living on-and-off in the breathtaking isolation of the Nordic country before settling in Berlin. Meanwhile, Magnúsdóttir is perhaps best-known for her work with ambient folk trio Samaris. Now living in Copenhagen, her focus on creating different experiences on traditional forms extends beyond performing music outside of conventional spaces but approaching instruments as sculptures. The two artists reconnected in 2018 on a serendipitous train ride after parallel tours of Oslo, Norway, and have been working together ever since.
Ferrill and Magnúsdóttir recorded material for their debut EP in the Patch Point studio.