Wanu – Magma

Stepping into Magma, the latest full-length offering by Swiss bassist Wanu, is akin to entering a universe where sound defies gravity and flows like molten rock, fluid, transformative, and alive. This album is a monumental blend of ambient, experimental, and musique concrète, a collision that fits so well together. Recorded live in the ethereal acoustics of Maison des Moines, the album captures the essence of improvisation, collaboration, and artistic synchronicity, creating an otherwordly auditory landscape. From the initial notes, Magma establishes itself as a profoundly narrative work, free of conventional constraints. With no lyrics to guide the listener, the story unfolds entirely through sonic textures, rhythms, and atmospheres. The bass guitar, wielded by Wanu (Sébastien Pittet) with masterful precision, serves as the narrator, with its resonant tones conjuring images. Every note feels intentional, as though chiseled from the earth itself, delivering a sense of gravity and profundity that permeates the entire album.

The collaborative dynamic between Pittet, sound engineer Mathias Durand, and visual artist Sébastien Guenot is noticeable throughout the entire release. The trio operates like a singular organism, integrating sound and visual artistry into a cohesive whole. While the album exists as an auditory artifact, the live performance from which it was birthed stays in the mind, adding an imagined layer of depth and texture to the listening experience. The live, improvised nature of the recording is its heartbeat, creating an immediate and unrepeatable energy. Sounds swell, dissolve, and reemerge in new forms, like magma cooling into rock before melting again under the earth’s relentless heat. Durand’s sound processing and multicasting work adds an otherworldly dimension to the mix, layering the organic warmth of the bass with shimmering electronic textures and fractured soundscapes. His contributions are not mere decorations, they’re integral of the Magma’s identity, transforming each track into a multi-dimensional sound sculpture.

The bass takes on many guises throughout Magma. At times, it growls with primal intensity, echoing the raw power of natural forces. At others, it whispers with a haunting intimacy, pulling the listener into shadowy, meditative spaces. The instrument’s versatility is on full display, supported by a myriad of objects and effects that blur the line between the familiar and the alien. While deeply rooted in the tactile resonance of live instrumentation, Magma ventures boldly into avant-garde territory, incorporating elements of jazz, ambient, and musique concrète. These experimentations with many complementary styles resulted in an organic and futuristic soundscape, unearthed from some ancient civilization yet attuned to the anxieties of the modern world. Percussive elements, often derived from unconventional sources, add a tactile quality. Stones clatter, branches scrape, and objects resonate in ways that evoke the raw beauty of nature while pushing the boundaries of traditional music-making. These sounds are not sheer background noise. Quite the contrary, they are integral voices in the ensemble, contributing to the sense of unpredictability and wonder.

Durand’s sound engineering ensures that every element, no matter how subtle, is vividly hearable in the mix. The interplay between the bass, processed effects, and ambient noise creates a sense of depth and dimensionality, engaging the listener in a world where each sound feels alive and intentional. The absence of rigid structures or repetitive motifs encourages active listening, rewarding those who are willing to engage fully with its nuances. There’s a profound sense of place embedded in the music, one that transcends physical geography. While recorded in Switzerland, the album evokes a more universal terrain, a liminal space where past, present, and future converge. It’s as though Wanu and his collaborators have tapped into something elemental, a sonic reflection of the natural forces that shape our world and the inner forces that shape our lives. At the heart of Magma is the chemistry between its creators. Pittet, Guenot, and Durand each bring a unique perspective to the project, but it’s their collective vision that makes the album so compelling. Their willingness to embrace uncertainty, to trust in the process of improvisation, is what gives the music its vitality and resonance.

The inclusion of visual art as an integral part of the project speaks to the interdisciplinary nature of their approach. While the visual components are absent from the recorded album, their influence is felt in the music’s cinematic scope and vivid imagery. This is music that invites you to imagine a world that exists just beyond the edges of perception. Magna is a work that challenges the listener while remaining deeply engaging and unrestricted. It’s an album that rewards patience and curiosity, offering discoveries with each listen. Whether experienced as a standalone recording or as part of the trio’s immersive live performances, it exemplifies limitless possibilities of sound.In an era when so much music feels disposable, Magma stands out as an album that doesn’t just capture a moment in time but creates a timeless experience. It’s a result of what can happen when artists take risks, trust in their instincts, and allow themselves to be guided by the unpredictable flow of creativity. It’s an album that doesn’t just push boundaries, it erases them entirely, inviting the listener into a world where anything is possible.