On Convex Umbra C. Lavender presents a reworking of a live performance featuring a swirling mass of gongs and synthesizers. The source material on Convex Umbra was originally recorded live during a two hour performance presented for a quadraphonic speaker arrangement at Nowadays club in Queens, NY. As her performance began the sun quickly set; the room was enveloped in darkness and the audience became immersed in a total listening experience while laying down on mats. C. Lavender’s vision was limited to two small candles gently illuminating her equipment, creating a focused pathway for hypnotic and transcendent sounds built up in the shadows. Convex Umbra goes beyond being a straightforward “live album” and is more analogous to a ceremonial spell that’s meant to be listened to in the darkness to match the intensity of that evening and provide a pathway for listeners to dive deep into the heavy undertow that the album has created.
The album opens with a collaborative track by C. Lavender and Old Technology co-founder Anthony Child, recorded at C. Lavender’s home studio, merging their sonic worlds into an elevated light portal before the album gradually pulls listeners down into its murky cosmic depths.
Convex Umbra marks the recorded debut of a live performance methodology that C. Lavender has cultivated with care over many years as a synthesist and a meditative percussionist. Her expertise in harnessing gongs and electronic instruments for their therapeutic and transportive powers is fully realized for home audiences with this album.
