12k presents Australian duo Solo Andata along with their second album, self-titled. Translated literally from the Italian as “one way”, Solo Andata portrays the theme of a one-way journey that moves from (and represents a thread between) water and land, fluid/stasis, cold/hot. Following Solo Andata’s debut album Fyris Swan (Hefty, 2006) and their 12k inception on Live in Melbourne, Solo Andata presents us with an ambient affair, with dark drones coupled with ethereal sonic environments.
It could be said that Solo Andata is carefully sequenced to a narrative structure: beginning on boat in the cold, arctic night of “Ablation,” and then ending on foot in the hot wilderness of “Woods, Flesh, Bone.” However, concepts and narratives that seem clear to the artists are often left oblique to the listeners. This is perhaps why Solo Andata represented this narrative in a strict sense by recording what the titles literally refer to. For example, “Woods Flesh, Bone” presents us with sweltering woodlands, the sound of a fresh carcass being torn apart and the clattering of bones. The same can be said of “Hydraulic Fluctuations,” “Canal Rocks,” “Ablation” and “In the Light Storming.” These organic sources, then, help tie music and concept together.