California-based electronic musician and sound designer CYRNAI (aka Carolyn Fok) has released a new single entitled ‘Echo Language’ today.
A hypnotising combination of pulsating sequencer rhythms and other sound effects underpinned with a relentless ultra-heavy beat, the track is guaranteed to appeal to anyone with a penchant for ‘80s industrial dance music and its modern day practitioners. And yet, ‘Echo Language’ is just one of several electronic styles displayed on ‘Calamity of Beauty’, the forthcoming and long-awaited album by Fok as CYRNAI.
Fok has made music as CYRNAI since her early teens and made several records in the 1980s that were collected in the deluxe vinyl retrospective box set ‘CYRNAI 1980-90’ issued in 2018 by the San Francisco-based darkwave label Dark Entries. She also appeared on Cherry Red’s ‘Third Noise Principle’ retrospective box set of ‘70s-‘80s US underground/electronic music, released in 2019 as part of their ‘Close To The Noise Floor presents…’ series. This was followed by live shows alongside the likes of Morton Subotnick, Suzanne Ciani and Drew McDowall, while she has also spoken on festival panels and played more recent dates in and around San Francisco. ‘Calamity of Beauty’ is the latest stage in her renaissance as CYRNAI.
Often described as deeply immersive and cinematic, Fok’s compositions as CYRNAI explore themes of identity, transformation and the complexities of human emotion. ‘Calamity of Beauty’ continues her legacy of innovation, showcasing an ability to merge the visceral impact of heavy beats with the delicate textures of sound design.
The album reflects her ongoing fascination with communication and disconnection, with her voice taking on a spectral presence that complements the sonic landscape. The tracks are also connected via fragmented radio signals, haunting static and an enigmatic broadcast that lingers like a phantom narrative. Utilising immersive 360 headphone listening, ‘Calamity Of Beauty’ is a spatial audio experience that draws listeners deeper into its intricately crafted soundscapes. With each piece serving as a station in a conceptual journey, her meticulous approach to sound elevates it into an immersive exploration with artistic depth.
The album cover features a female statue in repose with flowers placed on and around it. Serving both as a memorial and a symbol of eternity, it is situated in an attic illuminated with a flashlight, evoking a sense of both discovery and reverence that invites speculation: is this Fok rediscovering her youthful CYRNAI persona as a beauty unearthed? Or is CYRNAI reaching back, bridging past and present in an enigmatic dialogue? This visual adds a further dimension to the album narrative, enhancing underlying themes of duality and introspection.
CYRNAI is the alias of Asian-American artist, writer and electronic musician Carolyn Fok, an experimental pioneer whose work spans over four decades since first dabbling with her father’s TEAC recorder and home-made instruments in 1981. Specialising in experimental sounds and swiftly developing a fascination with sound design, she gained inspiration in her early teens from industrial electronic artists like Cabaret Voltaire. Starting to record as CYRNAI while still in her mid-teens, she issued several records in the 1980s while also playing in the San Francisco-based acts Trial and Rhythm & Noise.
Her 1996 album ‘Transfiguration’ included contributions from avant-garde guitarist Elliot Sharp, while the 2001 2xCD set ‘The Listener’ (released in 2001 as Carolyn Fok) featured composer Tim Story and ‘Magic Realism’ (2011, again as Fok) included a collaboration with Grammy nominated guitarist Joaquin Lievano (Jean Luc Ponty, Zazen). Her most recent releases have been as Carolyn Fok in a duo with astronomer and scientist Steve Bryson on the albums ‘Spacetime Canvas I & II’.
As well as the Dark Entries release of ‘CYRNAI 1980-90’, 2018 also saw Fok embark on a project to release her vast archive of music as a ‘memoir’ via her website Memoir of Sound, which contains over 100 albums worth of her electronic and experimental music, field recordings, collaborations and band projects.
