The universe is fascinating, it is habited by trillions of astronomical objects which emit waves and astronomers have sophisticated systems to detect them. Systems like sensors sensitive to electromagnetic radiation (meaning energy) coming from these objects. The SETI institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has been ‘listening’ to the cosmos for a long time, since the energy coming from out of space, the electromagnetic radiation, transformed into audible sound. If you have seen the movie ‘Contact’ with Jodie Foster, this is what Jill Tarter (her character who is at the head of the SETI) was doing. But beside sitting in a lab and waiting for intelligible audio signals, these sounds can be used for music, and Youth Lagoon’s Trevor Powers knows very well about it, as he explained on his Facebook page:
‘Although there’s no real sound in the vacuum of space, it’s possible to translate the electromagnetic radiation fluctuations and charged particles of these celestial bodies into conventional sound. So now that you’re no better of a person at all for knowing that, a collection of artists have come together to take audio recordings of planets that were gathered by the Voyager 1 & 2 space probes and manipulate these frequencies in music. This is my piece.’
His piece is part of a compilation entitled ‘The Space Project’, released via label Lefse, to which fourteen different artists will contribute by writing a song, incorporating some unique recordings coming from space into their very own soundscapes.
Youth Lagoon and his spacey sound were quite perfect for this, and this young guy never ceases to amaze me! His vocals, which start the track, have never been weirder or more emotional, and the curious symphonic and cinematic composition that follows, is deliciously child-like, with mysterious sound effects, going through waves of soaring melodic choirs and unexpected noises. ‘I might be a bit deranged, but I’ve loved you for a decade’ he sings several times before embarking in a sort of space odyssey,… and what happens at 3:25 will give you the chills. It’s a poignant and gorgeous spacescape you certainly want to listen to, it surprises and haunts before abruptly disappearing like light sucked into a black hole.
