Jolanda Moletta: The Creator and The Creature
What could be better than bringing musicians into contact with each other to help raise money for a good cause? The fact that the resulting music has a calming, meditative quality and the collaborations have extended beyond the realm of sound and into the world of vision.
Moths and Giraffes are very pleased to be premiering the new music video from Jolanda Moletta and Henrik Meierkord called ‘Incanto’, taken from the ambient compilation, ‘Sustain Series, Vol. 3’. Our piece features exclusive commentary from Jolanda Moletta, detailing her process of creation, as well as the deeper meaning behind the music and accompanying visuals.
‘Incanto’ single artwork by Fran McNamara.
Amsterdam-based label Ambientologist is behind ‘Sustain Series’, the first of which was released in November 2020, with the second volume following in July 2021. The premise of the Sustain Series is to allow artists to submit unfinished compositions, or pieces of music they’ve abandoned or have no outlet for release. These are placed into a communal folder, allowing other artists to expand upon the original composer’s ideas, or ‘recycle’ them, creating new and exciting tracks.
Each volume in the series has supported charitable causes that help build towards a sustainable future for our planet. Volume 3 supports Eden Reforestation Projects, whose aim is to work with local communities to ‘produce, plant, and protect tens of millions of trees every month, thereby creating jobs to support them in restoring their local environment and economy long-term.’
At the time of writing, Eden Reforestation Projects has helped produce, plant and protect over 977 million trees, with 280 sites in ten countries that employ almost 15 thousand people with fair wages. These countries include Brazil, Madagascar, Haiti and Indonesia.
‘Sustain Series, Vol. 3’ contains the work of over forty artists in 27 compositions and more than two hours of music. One such artist is Karen Vogt, whose album ‘The Sweet Wait’ with Pepo Galán we wrote about at the start of 2022. Another collaborator on that record was Jolanda Moletta, who uses the work of Henrik Meierkord on this compilation to create a new piece entitled ‘Incanto’.
Jolanda Moletta is best known for her work with Demian Endian as She Owl, the duo releasing their debut eponymous album in 2013 with their follow-up, ‘Animal Eye’ arriving two years later. Their latest work is a cover of John Martyn’s ‘Please Fall In Love With Me’, a collaboration with Karen Vogt’s band Heligoland, with drums and mixing by Cocteau Twins member Robin Guthrie. Jolanda Moletta released her solo album, ‘Nine Spells’ in July of this year, with her ‘Birdscapes’ EP arriving in September, having been recorded during late 2020. Moletta is due to play The Netherlands festival Le Guess Who? in early November.
Henrik Meierkord is a sound designer and composer whose own Bandcamp page is bursting with creativity and improvisation. His work for Ambientologist includes the full-length album ‘Själ’, released in December 2019, the Habitat benefitting ‘Refuge’ during the pandemic and his follow-up to ‘Själ’ entitled ‘Kval’ in January 2021. The music of Henrik Meierkord also appears on previous ‘Sustain Series’ volumes for Ambientologist. Jolanda Moletta describes her process of utilising the work of Meierkord for use in this latest instalment:
“I am a fan of Henrik's works for cello and strings. When Sam at Ambientologist invited me to contribute to the new 'Sustain Series' compilation, I directly checked if Henrik had any tracks I could rework. The dramatic and gloomy cello atmosphere inspired me to try something new with my voice. I decided to create a contrast between Henrik's beautiful and majestic cello line and an otherworldly vocal part and harmonies, enriched by little distortions. With this track, I aimed to create something evocative, as I was hinting at a long story without using words. Someway, the cello highlights the unsaid.”
Jolanda Moletta.
‘Incanto’ begins with layers of Jolanda Moletta’s voice, too numerous to count, creating a vocal ensemble with both depth and a closeness, a three-dimensional environment of sound with the listener at its centre. Henrik Meierkord’s multiple cello gliding drones are punctuated by Moletta’s outpouring of expression, as well as her breathier state of delivery, a texture akin to the stringed instruments. The way distortion is used to crackle in the corners of the mix is one of many reminders that this piece is best enjoyed inside a pair of comfortable headphones. Jolanda Moletta explains the meaning behind the title of the piece:
"The word "Incanto" means 'spell enchantment' but also includes the term 'canto', 'singing' in Italian. In many ancient traditions from all over the world, singing is the action that originates the creation of entire universes. With this concept in mind, I wondered whether the 'Singer' has to imagine a world before creating it or if the creation can surprise the 'Singer'.”
Accompanying the single release and premiered here at Moths and Giraffes is the music video for ‘Incanto’. Moletta manipulates high-quality still photography, using her own image as the video’s focal point, taking the viewer on a cosmic journey of creation and growth. Jolanda describes her narrative for the music video, and how it interlocks with the meaning of ‘Incanto’:
“I believe that both can be surprised, the creator and the creature. The protagonist wanders with the desire to create something in this dark, apparently empty space. Then she encounters a moon, a mirror reflecting this desire, and through her 'incanto' she generates mountains, glaciers, and flowers. I imagined this as a symbolic representation of how we take care of the seeds we try to grow, not knowing if and how they will bloom. It is the same kind of trust we put in our dreams, our plans, and our relationships. Still today, despite all the technology and the figures available, we're still longing, hoping, and doubting about the outcome of our most simple everyday creations. And we're right in doing so: somehow we create the scent of a flower only when we perceive it with our senses. I suspect that, without care and without curiosity from both sides of the creation, there wouldn't be any."
With $500 raised for Conservation International and £400 for Julie’s Bicycle in the first two volumes of the ‘Sustain Series’, Volume 3 was among the top ambient bestsellers during its first fortnight of release on Bandcamp. So far, this compilation has raised €350 for Eden Reforestation Projects.
To add to this total, follow our links below to purchase a copy of the 27-track ‘Sustain Series, Vol. 3’. Ambientologist have set the compilation as ‘name your price’, as anything you can give will help Eden Reforestation Projects for a more sustainable future.
‘Sustain Series, Vol. 3’ artwork by Fran McNamara.
--------
Download the ‘Sustain Series Vol. 3’ compilation from the Ambientologist Bandcamp page. The ‘name your price’ approach means you will be donating your preferred sum to Eden Reforestation Projects.
Further explore the artists on the Ambientologist roster, including the works of Henrik Meierkord and Jolanda Moletta.
To donate directly to Eden Reforestation Projects, visit their official website.
Follow Jolanda Moletta on Instagram and Twitter @jolandamoletta.
Follow Henrik Meierkord on Facebook @henrikmeierkord, on Instagram @henrik_meierkord and on Twitter @HMeierkord.
Follow Ambientologist on Facebook @AmbientologistYT, on Instagram @ambientologist_yt and on Twitter @Ambientologist_.
--------
Follow and interact with Moths and Giraffes on Instagram and Facebook @mothsandgiraffes, and on Twitter @mothsgiraffes.
We have a Spotify Playlist! Featuring almost every artist we've written about on Moths and Giraffes, find some new music here.
For submissions, or if you’d just like to send us your thoughts, don’t hesitate to contact us via our social media accounts, our contact page, or via email at mothsandgiraffes@outlook.com. We receive a lot of emails though, so please bear with us!
