In Scottish mythology, the selkie, a shape-shifting, mythical sea being, is at home in the wild and vast expanse of the deep ocean. During the full moon, they may come ashore, shedding their skin to reveal an illusory, human-like appearance. Enthralled in music, their songs echo the vigorous waves of the rolling tides; psalms to summon their fellow kind in dance and play. At times, they may exploit the lure of their soft, dark eyes in direct gaze with those who find them, a menacing ploy to lure others to their eternal fate. But mostly they are solitary beings, lonely amongst desolate landscapes, where at night they make strange, high-pitched calls and distressing wails, crying out for their exiled souls.

These folk tales gave inspiration to Alliyah Enyo and Florian T M Zeisig (as Angel R) on their new record for Somewhere Press. Selkie Reflections builds on the medieval sound of Enyo’s ethereal vocal harmonies. Working from long improvised recordings on reel-to-reel tape, Enyo dub-mixed her loops to stimulate the spontaneous spirit of the original takes. Her motifs ooze around one another in overlapping cycles, conjoining the distant cries of the solitary selkie into an evolving ballad of fragmented song. 

Zeisig’s manipulations confront the arcane side of the selkie. In his intricate processing, the vocals twist, warp and distort, inviting disturbed reflections to emerge and contend with the sublime radiance of the choral drones. In his reinterpretations, infinitesimal moments are stretched out infinitely, like calls from the gods, eerie and cosmic; the cries of the selkie immortalised.

Continuing this exploration into selkie myth, Alliyah Enyo and Angel R have compiled music for selkies in an extended playlist.  The selection traverses a myriad of sounds, from new-age jazz to ambient techno, musique concrète and chamber pop, capturing the multifarious nature of these folk tales.

The ceremonial music of German multiinstrumentalist Klaus Wiese evokes the inertia of the deep sea selkie, the unfathomable depths of the endless ocean. The sonorous, cyclical drones trace enduring movements through the desolate darkness of the elusive blue depths.

Spine-tingling vocal harmonies reverberate between Meredith Monk and Robert Een, their mournful cries epitomising the isolation of exiled spirits. Timeless and unfathomable.

A deep cut from the inimitable Fax +49-69/450464 label, by founder Peter Kuhlmann alongside Amir Abadi as Silence. Haunting soprano vocals drift along eternal synth progressions, like bellowing waves above gliding selkies, guided through the haze by shimmering moonlight.

Free jazz by no wave filmmaker/actor John Lurie, made for his 90s pseudo-nature show Fishing With John. A hypnotizing and expressive excursion in improvised live instrumentals, bubbling with activity; the sound of playful and cunning spirits wandering onto land.

Somewhere Press is a record label and publisher based in Glasgow

Photography by Somewhere Press
Words by Tim Dalzell

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