Iceland is a place that I love very much.

There are roughly two hundred fifty glaciers remaining in Iceland. The deterioration of glaciers has rapidly accelerated in the last twenty years, and scientists estimate that in the next 200 years all of Iceland’s glaciers will have disappeared due to global warming.

This album was written and recorded based on a series of field recordings I made in Iceland.

The idea behind the project was to travel into wild places currently at risk, record the soundscape, then turn those field recordings into fully realized compositions back in the studio.

These three pieces were commissioned for CHANGE, a permanent art exhibit dedicated to examining and expressing response to vulnerable polar geographies aboard the National Geographic Endurance.

The album’s worth of music that I made for the installation, incorporates field recordings I made in Iceland, data sonification, pedal steel, electric guitar and tapes. I first captured the soundscape, then synthesized those field recordings in different ways back in the studio. Those recordings became the foundation for this record, even if they’re now unrecognizable.

Installation on the Endurance will take place in February, 2020 and is scheduled to depart April 2, 2020 out of Svalbard, Norway.

All comparison pictures: 3D composite of aerial photography from the National Land Survey of Iceland; UAV photography by Dr Kieran Baxter, University of Dundee. 1980s survey photographs: National Land Survey of Iceland.