LARUM

 

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Von Bingen’s music is at Larum’s foundation. Founding member Chet Doxas has described how he was introduced to her legacy when he was studying at McGill University in Montreal, and how her manner of connecting all her experiences and herthinking, writing, and composing into a whole that found expression along multiple paths inspired him. Frank goes back to the duo’s origins and their debut release All the Roads, saying “we felt many aspects of our sound naturally gravitated toward early music, it had a time-worn feel,” though “this was never intentional but just the way it ended up sounding.” Doxas adds, “we share a mutual love for counterpoint, our whole sound is based around that.”

What Micah Frank and Doxas are getting at, and what connects contemporary synthesizers and woodwind instruments to a 12th century composer, is that things like counterpoint and the Medieval cantus firmus, a repeated phrase that is a bed for further musical exploration, may have ancient origins but are as musically useful and relevant as recording tape and Puremagnetik’s music software tools. Larum aren’t reinterpreting on Bingen, they’re using her ideas and techniques to create new music, and to show that her work is timeless.

This all starts with playing. Doxas and Frank put Von Bingen’s music in front of them, play through it, see what happens and figure out what to keep, expand, rework. Frank calls it “a very hands-on approach,” and both say that live performances of Von Bingen’s music is essential to finding what works best for the finished recordings. The process includes layering, improvising, and digital work in the studio, and also forging some key collaborations.

Larum called in two special guests for this recording, guitarist Bill Orcutt, heard on track one, “O Virga Mediatrix,” and cellist Okkyung Lee, who plays on the final track, number five, “O orzchis ecclesia.” “I had been a fan of Orcutt for a while,” Frank explains, “we were looking for a guitarist to add some improvised grit and he seemed like an ideal fit. We just reached out to him and he was into it.” Orcutt’s driving, crunchy attack adds more than color to the first single—with Frank’s enveloping sonic bed, and Doxas’ gentle winds, Orcutt seems to be calling out from the deep past, demanding attention.

Catalog Number: PM22
Release Date: April 11, 2025
Formats: Cassette, Digital
Edition: 50

Mastered by Taylor Dupree at 12k
Artwork by John Whitlock