On her new album Lost Communications 失絡之聲, London-based, Taiwan-born An-Ting 安婷 follows in the footsteps of artists such as Beethoven, Respighi, Messiaen, and in more contemporary times, The Beatles’ (‘Blackbird’) and Aphex Twin (‘Slo Bird Whistle’) – and countless other electronic artists – in taking inspiration from birds. However, not since Messiaen has an artist created a whole works around birdsong. 

On An-Ting’s extensive travels around the UK, Mongolia, Sichuan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, she took field recordings of birdsong and mixed them with dark experimental electronic music with droning soundscapes and hard beats, creating an album that sonically encapsulates the very essence of nature itself, drifting from peaceful ambience to haunting melancholy through to dark and foreboding. 

“There is a light and darkness in nature that civilisation has made us numb to and that we want to explore” explains An-Ting.  

Using a binaural recorder to capture the surrounding sounds of birds, then lowering the high frequencies of the birdsong in Ableton, An-Ting has created a completely different expression (as we hear in ‘Wren’ recorded in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire) that opens the seemingly simple, yet complex, languages of the birds, furthering the other-worldly, unique feel of Lost Communications 失絡之聲.  

Recorded in the same forest is ‘Blackcap’ and ‘Chiffchaff.’ ‘Blackcap’ was the start of it all. “We first heard its song whilst venturing deeper into the forest” explains An-Ting. “Perched atop a tree beside me, it sang a captivating melody that left me spellbound. From that moment, my journey to capture the essence of nature’s sounds began.” With An-Ting applying effects to evoke the enchanted feeling she experienced that day. ‘Chiffchaff’ contrasts the low, roaming sound of deer with its melody inspired by their majestic sound, with the playful chirping of the chiffchaffs at dawn turned into a lively musical composition. 

Further afield An-Ting recorded ‘Willow Tit’ in the mountains of Mongolia where the reindeer people live. “It is one of the most undisturbed mountains we have ever visited” says An-Ting. The track features the willow tit and the sound of pure flowing water and the crackling of fire, built by An-Ting as “lighting fires was essential for survival when I camped amongst the nomads.”

‘Taiwan Yuhina’ was recorded in the Smangus mountains of An-Ting’s Taiwan homelands and includes the sounds of the soft patter of rain and a flock of Taiwan Yuhina birds, the song captures their melody, alongside what An-Ting describes as “the essence and allure of the Taiwan forest woven into the fabric of the track.”Lastly, on ‘Black-Collared Starling’ we hear ‘urban’ birds, recorded in the dense city of Hong Kong. “Despite the cacophony of urban sounds, the birds remained lively and cheerful, offering the busy city a glimpse of natural beauty” explains An-Ting. “I managed to switch my perspective and appreciated the beautiful people and birds surviving in this tough environment, the song celebrates the coexistence of nature and the city.”

Lost Communications 失絡之聲 is an album pays homage to the beauty of nature and human artistic expression.

“We live with other creatures on earth and are surrounded by all different sounds. Through Lost Communications, I want to blend the birdsongs with my artistic expression to introduce people to these complex languages and nonhuman voices. Through this, I hope this will make us more aware of different life forms on this planet and inspire greater kindness toward other species.” – An-Ting

Lost Communications 失絡之聲 was composed, mixed and mastered by An-Ting and co-produced by An-Ting and Ian Gallagher. It is self-released on 25 October digitally and on vinyl.