François J. Bonnet and Stephen O’Malley are ardent explorers of peripheral sound tactics. Bonnet is a Paris-based, Franco-Swiss composer, electroacoustic musician and theoretician, who often works under the project name Kassel Jaeger. O’Malley is a Paris-based, American guitarist-composer-producer-label owner, known as the leader of the experimental drone metal band Sunn O))). Bonnet and O’Malley released their first project, «Cylene» (Editions Mego, 2019) two years ago,  described as a «vast glacial plain unfurls slowly upon the listener invoking a mood similar to the stillness found following despair».

«Cylene Suisse Redux» documents Bonnet and O’Malley’s tour in Switzerland in December 2019, «surrounded by friendship, lakes, mountains, and by nightfall». This time, Bonnet and O’Malley chose to entrust the sound material recorded on this tour to the expert ears of two friends, master composers-musicians and distinct sound artists – Jim O’Rourke (of Sonic Youth fame) and Ryoji Ikeda, giving both of them carte blanche.

O’Rourke «assembled» the first piece – deconstructed and reconstructed the live material, and created an enigmatic and immersive, otherworldly cinematic drone that feels like you are drawn deeper and deeper into a dark, atmospheric void, full of subtle yet highly nuanced layers of threatening noises and distorted metallic sounds. Ikeda chose a completely different approach, and edited the second piece with minimal intervention, suggesting a haunting and meditative drone that distills the ominous sonic palette of Bonnet and O’Malley into peaceful and almost static ripples of raw, hypnotic sounds, slowly accumulating more power and volume.

This fascinating metamorphosis of Bonnet and O’Malley’s music offers insightful interpretations of their powerful and liberating music.

Eyal Hareuveni

François J. Bonnet (elec), Stephen O’Malley (g, elec), Jim O’Rourke (editing); Ryoji Ikeda (editing)