Hypnotic Motion: Silk & Copper, tender vocal deep house with Lyra
Hypnotic Motion: Silk & Copper is 2 hr 9 min of mystical vocal deep house for the night drive and the slow end of a long day. A rounded four-on-the-floor kick and a warm syncopated bass figure sit on a low D pedal at around 108 BPM, with soft rim hits, rolling shakers and interlocking hand percussion keeping it in gentle motion. The harmony changes slowly. One intimate, breathy female alto sings original English songs, with a distant wordless voice answering.
The songs are about receiving care without paying for it. Each holds one small domestic object between two people. A tangerine is peeled at midnight and a piece is offered with no price attached; she sings "Peel the tangerine slowly" and learns to accept the sweetness and choose what she shares. A black umbrella held over everyone else finally gets a second shoulder under it. A silver comb is drawn through greying hair by someone who wants the years as they are. A couple keeps to two ends of a sofa, and "I can love you without entering" becomes a promise. The morning after a hard confession, one cup of plain tea is passed back and forth.
Lyra, an original Signal Art character, holds the screen in The Ember Within. This is a Living Loop, a format created by Signal Art: one character inside a world built for the album, moving without a seam for the whole programme. Lyra is a cyborg: fine copper inlay runs from her right temple down her neck to a smoky-quartz shoulder lit by amber filaments, beside her own freckles, grey-green eyes and dark waves. In eight patient moments she blinks slowly, amber light rises and settles, and the loop returns to its opening pose.
Put it on for a night drive, late work or a quiet evening at home.
