Stemmeklang • Parallax

On 27 August 2025, Stemmeklang • Parallax released the double album OSEAN, a large-scale sonic work shaped by space, time, and materiality.

OSEAN was created in 2023 inside the Emanuel Vigeland Museum, whose vast reverberation and singular atmosphere function as both acoustic backdrop and sonic laboratory. The work unfolds as an immersive oceanic journey: through coral reefs and storms, foghorns, birds and whale song, dripping caves and forgotten shipwrecks—everything bathed in the museum’s monumental resonance.

The release appears both digitally and as a carefully crafted physical edition. Each of the 100 physical copies includes a unique pop-up paper sculpture designed by the renowned German paper artist Peter Dahmen. Composed of 11 elements in three different colors, every sculpture is individually assembled by hand, resulting in subtle variations of color, shadow, and form. Associations emerge—floating icebergs, waves, coral structures, vessels, shifting sea levels—mirroring the music’s modular and ever-changing nature.

OSEAN is built from melodic fragments, textures, and long-form states that are assembled differently each time the work is performed or realized. This “building-block” approach is reflected in the album structure itself: the first disc consists of shorter movements, while the second unfolds as a nearly hour-long continuous work. Like the sculpture, the music reveals new layers depending on perspective, time, and listening context.

The album was recorded over two days in January 2025 at Emanuel Vigeland Museum, with Fridtjof Lindeman as recording engineer and the ensemble acting as artistic producers. The recording process followed the same methodology as the work’s development—moving between wholes and fragments, free improvisation and more defined sonic identities—allowing the space and the moment to actively shape the final form. Mixing and mastering were completed by Lindeman in close collaboration with the ensemble.

OSEAN is released by Particular Recordings Collective, an artist-run cooperative dedicated to high-quality releases across jazz, classical, improvisation, and contemporary music. Digital distribution is handled by The Orchard, alongside physical distribution through Particular Recordings and the artists themselves.

Promotion of OSEAN has focused on live performance as its primary medium. Since its premiere in April 2023, the work has been presented in architecturally distinctive spaces, including Neptun - a decommissioned fish oil tank in Vesterålen, the Gunpowder Tower at Munkholmen in Trondheim, and Tune Church in Sarpsborg—each venue further shaping and transforming the piece.

The album launch was marked by four release concerts at Emanuel Vigeland Museum in August 2025, accompanied by public conversations about the work’s creation and dissemination.

OSEAN is not only a musical release, but a work of craftsmanship and visual art—an improvisation in both sound and paper. It stands as a quiet protest against speed, efficiency, and disposability, choosing instead depth, duration, and careful attention. A slow project. A long work. An invitation to listen differently.