Ümlaut is the project of American experimental composer/sound artist Jeff Düngfelder, now based in the northern Connecticut countryside. According to his bio, The thematic concepts distinguishing his work are absence and silence; the ineffable exchange between viewer and image; random moments of stillness within a landscape in flux.
He’s back with a new album called Grand Trine. According to the press release, A year into lockdown, the pandemic forced me to take a deeper look into myself. Taken out of my comfort zone, I decided to experiment. To think in different ways about composing my music. Themes of luck and chance inform the underlying creative process behind “GRAND TRINE”. In astrology, a grand trine is a harmonious pattern formed when three planets in a horoscope chart are each placed 120 degrees apart in a single moment in time, creating an equilateral triangle. Mindful of the implications of this arrangement, I simplified and clarified my attempts to capture the solemness of the times using meditative images that invited reflection.
A contemplative walk through a slowly morphing tapestry gave birth to other musical languages employing sound, form and function. These elements, constellating as dust and interspersing with sparse notes, are disseminated over a landscape of subtle noise. In constant fluctuation, the complex combinations of tones remain warmly alien. Although soberly futuristic, this album is a sombre and subdued effort that, in the end, feels inherently satisfying.