BELLA1590 // 3 May 2024

Please note that the digital artwork differs from the vinyl.

CORRESPONDENCES is an ever-evolving project between Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith. Spanning over 10 years, it traverses a wealth of geographies and their natural environments, where the artists have uncovered sonic footsteps left by poets, filmmakers, revolutionaries, and the impact of climate change. Soundwalk Collective’s founder, Stephan Crasneanscki, has explored, captured and collected the world’s remotest places in sound to awaken a sonic memory within the landscape, uncovering traces of past and current histories of the world we are living in. The resulting compositions are made of sound that reflect our relation to this world, the environment, the soul of our existence, and the creative process of the artist.

Initially composed as long travelling shots, soundtracks to an invisible movie, Stephan brought these recordings to Patti Smith, giving her new landscapes to channel her poetic vision. This ongoing resonance between the artists – which started during a chance encounter on a plane – has been shaped by their correspondences: ongoing conversations with the intention of reflecting on life and nature.

For CORRESPONDENCES, their collaboration focuses on eight unique pieces that revert the relationship of sound to image. Sound came first, and only then would imagery be found to tell the music’s story, visually edited to each soundtrack. From a collaboration with TBA21-Academy exploring the destructive impact of seismic airguns and human interventions in the oceans, to the resilience of Nature in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, to the decentralized societies envisioned by Peter Kropotkin, to the wastelands of Pasolini’s last night: the pieces presented become thought-provoking audio-visual journeys.