KALI MALONE — Burning Song

Kali Malone – BURNING SONG arrives on Ideologic Organ as catalogue SOMA078LP-C2, a 12-inch vinyl that situates the organist’s newest compositional direction within the label’s recent experimental output. Recorded in the historic Thomaskirche in Leipzig, the work marks Malone’s first new material since 2024’s All Life Long, and it is realised with Lucy Railton on cello and Stephen O’Malley on bowed acoustic guitar, the trio that emerged from the collaborative process of Does Spring Hide Its Joy. Within Ideologic Organ’s recent chronology, BURNING SONG follows the 2025 release MAGNETISM (SOMALP64) and the 2024 double-LP ALL LIFE LONG (SOMALP55), while sharing its release date with a second pressing (SOMA078LP-C1). The label’s 2023 offering PLACELESSNESS (SOMALP52) by Chris Abrahams, Oren Ambarchi and Robbie Avenaim provides a contrasting texture, underscoring Ideologic Organ’s commitment to expansive, process-driven works. Malone’s new album thus continues the label’s trajectory of deep, resonant explorations. Side A opens with “01: GRIEVING FIGURE”, a slow-moving chordal meditation that establishes the record’s contemplative mood. The piece unfolds with deliberate pacing, each harmonic shift arriving like a stone set on a winding path. “02: MAP THE PATH” continues this trajectory, extending the sense of stepwise progression while subtly widening the tonal space. The third track, “03: BELLS ON A BRANCH”, maintains the deliberate tempo, its title evoking a delicate resonance that hovers between ambiguity and radiance. “04: CRAWLING ASHORE” deepens the texture, its chords arriving with a weight that suggests the pull of a tide against a shore. “05: SOUNDING A VOID” offers a moment of spaciousness, the trio allowing the organ’s resonance to fill the silence before retreating. “06: HEAVY WITH FRUIT” adds a richer harmonic density, the music swelling as if laden with the harvest of the previous movements. The side concludes with “07: MY EYE MY DAWN”, a piece that bridges the album’s thematic arc, moving from a sense of sorrow toward an emerging brightness, its upper-register passages hinting at triumph. The record’s final three pieces were composed in the month preceding the Leipzig session, and the opening half was originally commissioned for the 2023 Venice Music Biennale, first heard in the ornate setting of San Pietro di Castello. This lineage informs the work’s architecture: each movement is a slow succession of chords, emerging like stones of varied shade, the trio moving as a single organism through passages that oscillate between ambiguity and radiance. The final piece, “My Eve My Dawn”, foregrounds the link between endings and beginnings, its tonal continuity offering a sense of acceptance that resonates with the album’s overarching narrative of transformation. For DJs and collectors attuned to the experimental avant-garde, BURNING SONG provides a deep, immersive listening experience rather than a conventional dancefloor tool. Its extended, slowly evolving structures lend themselves to set moments that require a meditative atmosphere or a dramatic shift in mood, particularly in late-night or installation contexts where sustained tension and release are prized. The organ’s historic resonance, combined with the cello’s timbral depth and the bowed guitar’s subtle articulation, creates a rich sonic tapestry that rewards repeated, attentive play. The release is presented as a 12-inch vinyl, pressed in the “Monument Marble” format specified by the label. The physical presentation aligns with the work’s weighty, contemplative character, offering a tactile complement to the music’s slow, deliberate unfolding. Kali Malone – BURNING SONG, Ideologic Organ, catalogue SOMA078LP-C2, 12-inch vinyl, 7 tracks, experimental, released 30 October 2026. Tracklist: A1. Kali Malone – 01: GRIEVING FIGURE A2. Kali Malone – 02: MAP THE PATH A3. Kali Malone – 03: BELLS ON A BRANCH A4. Kali Malone – 04: CRAWLING ASHORE A5. Kali Malone – 05: SOUNDING A VOID A6. Kali Malone – 06: HEAVY WITH FRUIT A7. Kali Malone – 07: MY EYE MY DAWN