At the centre of this release are Vergette’s Time and Tide bells: handmade instruments which create sound with the rising sea levels. One of the bells is ringing at any given time of day as the tide wraps around our coast, retreats and returns again. There are eight bells currently scattered across the UK’s coasts, each existing as a democratic artwork owned by the local community.
Sounds from these bells are collaged with field recordings from the coast and fragments of instrumental improvisation, including Vergette himself on double bass. The result is a collection of dark and dramatic soundscapes, capturing the tumultuous nature of our waters.
The title track ‘Tintinnabulation’ explores the idea of a world with birds, and a world without birds, playing with the interaction between the bells and birdsong. In ‘Ferry’, a small group of instrumentalists respond musically to a projected film of the Torpoint Ferry as it crosses the water, with field recordings from the boat audibly intertwined throughout the track. The bells are perhaps most prominent in ‘Wax and Wane’, buoyantly weaving between vocal fragments and field recordings.
