Istanbul-based composer and sound artist Ipek Gorgun is readying her sophomore LP Ecce Homo for release on September 7th via the UK audiovisual organization Touch (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jim O’Rourke, Mika Vainio, Oren Ambarchi, etc). With an undergraduate degree in Political Science, a Master’s in Philosophy, Gorgun is currently enrolled in the doctoral program of Sonic Arts at Istanbul Technical University’s Center for Advanced Studies in Music. Between 2001-2013, the musician was a bassist and vocalist in the projects Bedroomdrunk and Vector Hugo, sharing the stage with artists like Jennifer Finch from L7, Simon Scott from Slowdive, as well as performing live with David Brown of Brazzaville.
In February of 2016, Ipek Gorgun self-released her solo album Aphelion, which was later reissued in December of that year by Touch under their Touchline catalog. In 2017, the musician released a collaborative album Perfect Lung with the Canadian producer Ceramic TL (aka Egyptrixx) via his Halocline Trance label. In addition, Gorgun performed at Sonar Istanbul in 2017, BBC Radio 3’s “Open Ear” at LSO St. Luke’s in 2018, as well as opening this year for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with her electronic rework of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird.”
Across its 11 tracks, Ecce Homo explores the complexities of the human psyche using a sonic array of droning ambiance, soaring texture, and found sound. Today the artist made the album’s lead track “Neroli” available for streaming. Opening with echoing, sun-drenched bursts of organ-like sound, the cut’s ascending trajectory eventually seems to break the earth’s atmosphere where it settles into a slow orbit of deep space drift.
