Liew Niyomkarn - In All Possible Places At Once (2024)

Sound artist and composer Liew Niyomkarn invites us back into her shimmering, dreamlike universe with her second release on Chinabot, In all possible places at once. Spoken word interludes drift through warm electronic tones and strains of traditional instrumentation to create a record that explores dimensionality – of space, of time, of self.

“I started recording zither, lyre, and handcrafted string instruments designed by Yuri Landman in my home in Brussels without any intentional duration or particular structure,” she says. “I only wanted to feel the delicate resonance of those instruments, tuned specifically, bouncing back and forth between my bedroom walls.”

Building on her acclaimed previous release, In all possible places at once returns to the deeply personal sphere of family and memory, using field recordings of family gatherings in Thailand as she created the album back in Brussels.

“Composing this album felt like being in a liminal space, feeling in-between and finding a connection between places and many homes, sensing belonging or a physical transactional exchange of time,” says Liew.

Sliding synths build tension or drift out in waves, bells intertwine with the sounds of birds calling. New tunings and compositional methods appear, drawing from the work of Glenn Branca to traditional music in Southeast Asia; using a lap steel and a zither, she experimented with Sonic Youth’s tunings, tuning off a D for a divided harmonic effect.

Yet most tracks rely on human connection and serendipity. A steel hand drum is heard on at Bird's house, one that she found and began playing with while visiting her friend Bird in his home studio, bringing the record back into the importance of real-world textures and relationships. Rigour and spontaneity interplay in Liew’s work, reflecting her ability at melding her intellectual subjectivity with the air around her, a space that can generously hold the listener too.