Felisha Ledesma – Sweet Hour CS

Originally composed for livestreaming events during the ongoing lockdown of 2020, Felisha Ledesma presents two extended pieces as a debut album, “Sweet Hour”. Ledesma’s first full length release arrives after much experience in creating collaborative works with artists such as Isabella and Angelo Harmsworth, site-specific installations, and high-profile festival performances.

Both pieces were realized using a new software synthesizer, called “AMQR”, which Ledesma built for personal use in collaboration with Ess Mattisson. Contrary to many digitally-based compositions, a distinctly warm and organic palette pervades these recordings. An almost playful leisurely pace is employed, engaging the listener to listen deeper; the pieces gracefully evolve with special attention to subtle shifts in stereo field and sonic coloration.

The time-of-day titles illustrate the two distinct moods conveyed: “7:00 AM” integrates field recordings and a hardware modular synthesizer, taking the listener through a psycho-acoustic journey exploring various nooks and crannies of subdued auditory rivulets: perhaps a hidden woodland brook, a sunny glen, a crunchy gravel walkway. “2:00 AM” harkens to the memories of nightclubs, opening with a synthesized arpeggio which could lead into a dancefloor-ready stomper. But instead, Ledesma steps back, allowing the arpeggio to develop into an encompassing ASMR-like timbral massage. The two compositions are united in a slightly melancholic grasping for connection; are they unfolding or are they unraveling? Ledesma does not answer the question outright, but instead finds joy in superposition and sublimation – while creating a space for the listener to inhabit, to live in, and to re-connect.

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Felisha Ledesma is a multi-disciplinary artist currently based in Berlin, GER. In Portland, OR, Ledesma co-founded and directed numerous organizations focused on experimental sound and community engagement such as S1 (an artist-run space) and the Synth Library (a lending library for electronic music equipment). Most recently Felisha co-founded Fors (https://fors.fm), creating “novel instruments that are elegant to use and adventurous in sound” in collaboration with Ess Mattisson and is studying sonic arts at Universität der Künste, Berlin.