Like most music swimming about the nebulous drone-ambient pool, Polarity by William Ryan Fritch is a slow burn. But worth it. It’s the first segment of a triad narrating fervent commentaries on climate disaster. The complex sonic textures are slow to melt and compound, but inevitable; throughout the course of the album, the dangerous rise of the tide can no longer be ignored. As for the sound design, WRF’s creative use of electro-acoustic technology communicates the direness of climate (in)action today: “…[T]he utilization of hydrophones, ceramic PZM mics and unique contact mic setups […] capture these sounds in a way that let him feel and see the vibration, resonance and energy from these circuits.” It’s this quality that makes this piece so exceptionally tactile. Impressively, he’s able to convey the magnificence and beauty of something that is also so devastating and destructive, and held in precarious balance. An omen pointing to the (un)refinement of (our) decline.
