British flutist and sound artist Katie English aka Isnaj Dui has released a new EP called Bright Star which is out via Textura and follows 2019′ Sight Seeing. According to press release, IN BEING poetry-themed, ‘Bright Star’ is to some degree a sequel to ‘Kubla Khan,’ textura’s inaugural release—despite a twelve-year gap and the three label releases that appeared after that 2008 compilation. There is a major difference, however: whereas the first, inspired by the Coleridge poem, features original works by multiple artists, ‘Bright Star’ is by a single one, Isnaj Dui, otherwise known as Katie English. Drawing on John Keats’s sonnet for inspiration, the Halifax, UK-based artist produced three long-form instrumentals in her inimitable style that distill the poem into musical form.
The material English created is, however, allusive rather than programmatic. Asked to elaborate on her approach, she replied, “I often find Morse Code to be a nice starting point with some projects and used a few short phrases from the poem to create some of the rhythmic elements of the piece. I explored the conflict between love and death over distance and immortality, with the recurring deep drone representing the ever-lasting star, and dissonant melodies to tear at any sense of ease or comfort. Some of the melodic and rhythmic motifs come and go, each time in a slightly different form, as though ever-present throughout changes around them. Other melodic and harmonic phases create a sense of fragility and inevitable loss, as if content to be in the moment whilst all the time knowing it will end.”