Salamanda – In Parallel

Description

Seoul duo Salamanda arrive on Wisdom Teeth with their latest and most focused LP yet: ‘In Parallel’ – a vividly textural and immersive record that brings a new level of clarity to their typically psychedelic, expansive approach.

Since arriving in 2019, the pair – comprised of friends Uman Therma (aka Sala) and Yetsuby (aka Manda) – have been fast at work mapping out their elaborate, dream-state sonic world – prolifically honing their sound across four albums and over a dozen singles to date.

Across their already-extensive discography the pair have established a few key calling cards. Mallet instruments and tuned drums play out playful music-box melodies; thick washes of gaseous ambience invoke otherworldly or ancient soundscapes; buried fragments of found sound and manipulated vocal are layered, giving their otherwise synthetic compositions a warm sense of first-person narrative. Ambient and Reich-school minimalism are the musics most obvious sonic touchstones – yet the pulse of contemporary club and pop music have never been totally out of earshot.

All of these themes come in to play here – but ‘In Parallel’ signals a step well beyond Salamandas work to date. Since 2022s ‘ashbalkum’ (released on Wisdom Teeth alumni TristanArps label, Human Pitch), the duo have toured extensively: at classical institutions like Londons Kings Place as well as DIY club dens like Manchesters White Hotel, all via a series of globally renowned festivals like Mutek, Nachti and Dekmantel. Their creative set-up has grown steadily alongside to incorporate a whole suite of new machines, processes and perspectives, taking their music in bold new directions in the process.