Abigail Toll - Matrices of Vision (2023)

Berlin-based British composer and performer Abigail Toll came up with 'Matrices of Vision' when she was studying electro-acoustic composition in Sweden, using 70 years of data sets detailing educational trends to inform a long-form drone poem that features Lucy Railton on cello, Evelyn Saylor on vocals and Rebecca Lane on woodwind, while Toll handles electronics and flute.

Toll's debut album is a truly collaborative affair - even the concept itself was sculpted with assistance from her friend Tiara Roxanne, an artist and academic who explores AI biases and data colonialism. 'Matrices of Vision' interprets trends in Swedish higher education, and Toll uses the data to inform a graphic score, mapping the numbers to frequencies using a technique she developed with Lane. Toll's point is to use the musical output to prompt further investigation into the subject matter, so as we listen to the curious tonal variations and psychoacoustic processes, we're able to consider how categorization impacts our relationship with the wider world and its biased, often invisible systems.

A single 40-minute piece, 'Matrices of Vision' is cautious and slow, but never dull. Railton's expert cello tones provide an immediate anchor, deviating tonally against Lane's quartertone bass flute and concert flute breaths and Toll's own flute notes and subtle oscillations. Saylor's vocals emerge later, vacillating whisper-quiet and melting into the thrum of drones before disappearing completely. Roxanne describes the piece as "an emotional sonic meditation" and it's hard to disagree; within a few minutes we're captivated by its tottering character, a beguiling concoction of abstract minimalism, pensive drone and thrumming electronics. As the piece evolves, its idiosyncrasies are harder to ignore and its unusual tonal palette pulls it further and further from its influences.

Magical stuff, and the more you observe it, the more fascinating it becomes. Essential listening whether you're into Robert Ashley, Mary Jane Leach, Sarah Davachi or Kali Malone.