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Covenant

Sound Mirrors

DIGITAL (2016) · Listen & Buy on Bandcamp

"SOUND MIRRORS -- I was reading an article about this British pre-WWII project for early warning from attacks across the Channel, called Sound Mirrors. They were designed to amplify incoming sound from enemy aircraft enough to allow the defence to take them out before they could pose a serious threat. It was an elaborate and ingenious design, expensive as well, and it was rendered obsolete by the advent of radar. My reading coincided with the refugee situation in Europe. The fact that we all knew about the reasons for it since years, without doing anything to help, made me think of this pattern. How we, humans in general, do everything in our power to try and predict future threats. That ability to anticipate possible scenarios is of course key to our survival, from an evolutionary point of view. But we also have an equally amazing ability to ignore facts that make us feel uncomfortable or frightened. We can watch terrible things unfold right in front of us and still act as if nothing is going on. And then we're surprised and outraged when the shit hits the fan.  And that's the usual story: when it's someone else's misery, happening somewhere else, we can ignore it and be generous and grand. We buy ourselves a better conscience by sending some used clothes or money, we sign some petitions online, perhaps we write something heartfelt and compassionate on Facebook and then we go on with our comfortable lives. But when the people suffering over there come knocking on our door, asking for a bit of the safety and prosperity we enjoy, that thin veneer of compassion and generosity cracks and our selfishness, our fear, our prejudice is suddenly all too apparent. And to my mind that?s because we ignore what we actually know:  There is no we versus them. There is only us. And there is only one world.  And when we see the truth of that simple fact and really absorb it so we can start acting on it, then there will be hope for us. Then we won't need early warning. Then we won't have to manipulate the "others" and keep them out. But I'm not sure we are capable to take that step at all. And that makes me terribly sad." -Joakim Montelius

Track List

01. Sound Mirrors
02. Sound Mirrors (Faderhead Remix)
03. In Theory
04. Sound Mirrors (Daniel Myer Remix
05. Sound Mirrors (Iszoloscope Remix)