Natali Kruger – 83% Invisible [Les Anges Noirs De L’Utopie]

Nathalie Garcia aka Natali Kruger (or Baby Kruger) is a French sound artist based in Brussels, Belgium. Traversing sound design, binaural 3D sound for radio documentaries (as part of the collective Les connexions oubliées) as well as electronic and electroacoustic composition, her work is influenced by animist philosophy, shamanistic knowledge, and the practice of ‘sound massage’ pioneered by Peter Hess.

Her debut album ‘Selkie’, released on the Schematic label (Richard Devine, Crash Course in Science) – set up by Warp affiliates Phoenecia – fused elements of IDM, acid and industrial in an ‘absorbing, all-encompassing slab of surreal electro’ (Igloo Mag)

On ‘siis’, her next release, this time for Leipzig / Amsterdam based imprint Doumen Records, Kruger expanded upon these foundations with a four-track EP of mesmeric, heavily abstracted techno.

Kruger’s work since has been dedicated to a sound research project focused on altered states of consciousness – especially trance states – and their subsequent therapeutic and creative value.

With her latest record ‘83% Invisible’, Kruger expresses a profound reflection on her research, extending her thematic scope by focalizing the relationship between sound, the corporeal, consciousness and the natural world. Aiming to mirror the perception of natural sounds as a living 3D environment, Kruger creates an enveloping sound world.

Intended as a listening experience which represents both an upheaval and a concentration of consciousness, Kruger describes an active, vivid habitat: ‘snakes move & whistle on the walls, tigers run to the four corners of the room, it rains, we are caught in an earthquake…’. In this the objective isn’t mere imitation – to produce ‘an inert copy’ – but to capture ‘deeply buried realities’, according to a methodology.

In the live set conceptualised to accompany the release of ’83% Invisible’ – entitled ‘Intero’ – Kruger conducts the performance in darkness in order to create a space where ‘senses are misled’ and ultimately altered. The audience is liberated through the application of unique auditory detail.

With 83% Invisible’, Kruger creates a living document of such an event. A convergence of ideas situated across art, nature, technology, and science, where ‘wildlife unfolds’. 83% Invisible’ is a highly recommended prospect for those who follow the sounds of Richard Devine, Lucrecia Dalt, Donato Dozzy, Bruno Pronsato, Felicia Atkinson, Nina Trifft, and Chris Watson.

Release date: September 23, 2020.