eRikm (aka Erik Matt) is a French sound artist, electronics player, composer, improviser and visual artist, who has made a life-long habit of crossing all territories and «world-systems» deemed «independent», «institutional», and is known for his collaborations with Christian Marclay, Thurston Moore, Otomo Yoshihide and vocal artists Phil Minton, Catherine Jauniaux, Natacha Muslera and Dalila Khatir. Isabelle Duthoit is a French vocal artist, classically-trained musician and clarinetist, who has collaborated with Franz Hautzinger, Georg Gräwe and Carl Ludwig Hübsch. Together, eRikm and Duthoit are the Sun Dog duo and Col des Tempètes is their debut album, recorded in stereo at M!lieu in January 2022.

eRikm tells that duo was initiated when he and Duthoit were climbing «the Kilimanjaro of Provence». Then, «Beyond the Dome of the Storms, we reach the pass. After climbing this modest 1909 meters, we descend on the partially-icy asphalt. The setting sun casts on the summit rare silhouettes of pine trees shaped by the wind. The sea of clouds at our feet reminds me of the past experience of the SunDog» (Sundogs are colored spots of light that develop due to the refraction of light through ice crystals), which he experienced in Iceland.

Col des Tempètes (Strom pass) offers 14 distinct wanderings in sounds and vocal utterances. eRikm creates suggestive and abstract, otherworldly sounds while Duthoit assumes the role of a modern-day shaman and casts her seductive yet vulnerable spells and chants. eRikm extends gently the vocal range of Duthoit with his sonic wizardry and Duthoit colors his inventive electronics palette with enigmatic, wordless dramas. But often you can not know who produces the electronics, processed and mutated sounds, and who is producing the acoustic, human voices. Sun Dog becomes one, inseparable entity, mirroring its multiplying refractions with expressive, inspiring imagination.

Eyal Hareuveni 

Isabelle Duthoit (v), ErikM (elec)

SUN-DOG.mov from jetlag prod on Vimeo.