AARTI JADU - "L'ECOLE DE LA CAZ" LP

HEAVY MACHINERY:

Heavy Machinery Records is honoured to present L'ECOLE DE LA CAZ, the truly mesmerising new album from Melbourne sound artist Aarti Jadu.

Described as “an alien folk album”, L'ECOLE DE LA CAZ explores displacement, belonging and isolation with stories that negotiate the material and the ethereal. A time capsule of a home lost; as one moves in multiple directions of change, travelling across, ascending, and transcending.

The first taste of the record is opening track IT / THAT.
IT / THAT is a poem acknowledging the interchangeability between that which is classified object and human. Spelling out a list of earthly qualities, the chant presents flaws that are associated with living, affirming self-acceptance and the reality of being. It is a multilingual song of earth language and alien, delivered through electronic manipulation as these characters communicate this celebration of self from afar. A symphony of heavenly strings throws the voices into the vastness spiralling away in zero gravity.

The 7 track LP begins in a setting of another world. A select group of basic schoolfemmes are summoned by authorities to test uncharted territory without prior warning. Through the course of the album, they sing their experience of being uprooted and flying, of time in strength and connectivity, of pensive moments and the inevitable growth in journey. In contrast, shadowing their path is an entity, branded and lone. This being symbolises ‘other’ that quietly lurks, reminding the subjects of what they have together; company, identity, conversation, memories, a sense of home and belonging.

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Known for creating a hybrid of cinematic compositions and bass music laced with disparate vocal arrangements, Aarti Jadu performs in a variety of ensembles, as well as solo and collaboratively. A multi-disciplinary, self-driven professional, they are an embodied sound facilitator and the director of experimental art initiative tincture.

Their work is formed from a culmination of self enquiry, existentialism, experimentation and research. Jadu threads together a journey with sounds of minimal classical, distorted folk beats, and processed wordless melodies. Their set revolves around the interchange between digital processing / recording, synthesizers and organic voice. In these progressive song structures, Jadu draws from pop music and cinema, creating motifs and trance-like repetitions.

Jadu’s practice of embodied sound is entwined with the idea of time and ritual. From their lifelong connection to worship, ritual and devotion, they continually experiment with the ideas of endurance, length of sound and silence and trance spanning across minutes, hours and days. Their life's work revolves around the power of embodying, an interest originating from their relationship with devotional music.

Jadu’s recent movements in trauma work and education see them finding ways to incorporate awareness around mental health and disabilities, both on and off stage. Jadu is a versatile organiser and conceptualiser, having worked to create immersive collaborative experiences with Abbotsford Convent and AsiaTOPA, Multicultural Arts Victoria, Immigration Museum, and NIDA.