Experimental political pop artist Mary Ocher returns with a musical tour-de-force examining the collective dread of the impending future. Ocher, the eternal outsider, has an uncanny ability to craft curious intricate worlds. Unravelling our innermost fears (as described in the album’s essay), and triggering paranoia of the world we live in – which seems to be spinning out of control faster and faster – a notion increasingly difficult to avoid these days.
First single, Is Life Possible? borrows its title from Judith Butler’s “Undoing Gender” – and refers to the inequality in the value of different lives, the increased trust in technology, and accordingly, surveillance measures. Recorded together with Les Trucs, it’s released 8th September with the video directed by Mary, starring Mats Folkesson and Theo Taylor, the song references Judith Butler’s question “What lives are worth living?”
The new recordings feature collaborations with Barry Burns (Mogwai), synth-wizard turned-contemporary-composer Roberto Cacciapaglia who contributed a piano piece which turned into the title track, Red Axes, cyborgian art pop duo Les Trucs, tracks with Mary’s drummer duo Your Government, and artwork by AI mastermind Boris Eldagsen. It was recorded and mixed with Microtonal artist Peder Simonsen and Mercury Award winning producer Mike Lindsay of Tunng and LUMP.
As an avid music collector, Mary enjoys curating albums like compilations, where each track sounds different – that’s also how she mainly listens to music these days, track by track. These recordings reveal further layers with each listen.
The album features pieces like Yellow Modulations (Triumph of The Mind over The Body) – On the decay and limitations of the biological body and body modifications, featuring a tweaked sound sample of a brain seizure. Cosmic Rock (feat. Your Government) – A little nod to the link between Krautrock and techno. Sonic Departures (for Delia) – A series of spoken instructions for the recordings of sound pieces atop electronic experimentation, dedicated to electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire. Is Life Possible? borrows its title from Judith Butler’s “Undoing Gender” – and refers to the inequality in the value of different lives, the increased trust in technology, and accordingly, surveillance measures. While Love is Not a Place was released early in 2023 with a music video, as part of Mary’s Ukraine charity EP “Power and Exclusion from Power”, which, like her last LP “The West Against The People”, and this album, also accompanied by an essay.
The short essay is available with the LP/CD, the full version is online – delving into complex issues of self, society, power, and the changing nature of human existence… The impact of AI technology on artists, determinism in the age of post-pandemic anxiety, authoritarianism and the various implications of surveillance. The essay does not attempt to answer the questions it raises, but rather stir up a dialogue, and possibly stimulate further questions.
The album cover resembles iconic images of Alice in Wonderland. The image was taken inside of an art installation (courtesy of Plastique Fantastique). Additional images are AI “photographs” by Boris Eldagsen, whose prompt based art and conversations on it popped up everywhere in recent months.
“Approaching Singularity: Music for The End of Time” is a stunning run-thru the history of experimental and electronic music, and exploration through minimalism (via field recordings, ambient, dub, cosmic music, psych folk, minimal synthesizer pieces, sound experiments and various uses of sampling techniques).
Connect with Mary Ocher:
WEBSITE //INSTAGRAM // SPOTIFY// BANDCAMP
photo credit: Boris Eldagsen
