Watch: Kelly Moran “Water Music”

April 8, 2019

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Kelly Moran "Water Music" video image — Watch: Kelly Moran “Water Music”

Kelly Moran‘s Ultraviolet LP (Warp Records) was our favorite album of 2018. The extraordinary record was inspired by a trip to the woods near her childhood home on Long Island, as well as a swim in the ocean that found her pushing her boundaries into deeper waters. Coming home later, the pianist sought a music that sounded as ?natural, connected, and effortless? as her experience in nature that day.

Like a morning hiking in the forest or an afternoon swimming in bracing waters, Ultraviolet is the kind of sonic experience that delivers feelings of solace and exhilarating rejuvination with each visit. Today we watch Kelly Moran’s new video for the stand out Ultraviolet track “Water Music.” The composer/instrumentalist explains:

“On the day I made the music that eventually became this record, I went swimming in the ocean and for the first time went far past my comfort zone in the water. I’m usually too skittish to go deeper than my ankles, but I felt completely uninhibited that day and actually let myself swim and feel the weight of my body disappear in the water. With this newly achieved sense of freedom and looseness, I attempted to bring that feeling back to my studio when I played piano later that day.”

The video for “Water Music” is directed by Moran’s close visual collaborator Katharine Antoun, and it features additional digital design elements from Cassie McQuater. McQuater is also responsible for some of the live visuals during Moran’s recent live performances, and Moran was commissioned by McQuater to score the artist’s new video installation Love Birds, Night Birds, Devil-Birds, which premiered at Frieze in Los Angeles last month.

“Water Music” combines Turkish marbling techniques, epi-fluorescent footage of plant cells and various chemical reactions, digital design elements, as well as footage of Moran herself. Strikingly visual with its brilliant colors and teaming patterns, like Moran’s electro-acoustic approach to music making, the video weaves together organic and digital sources into a beautifully seamless visual experience.

This year Kelly Moran will perform live at Moogfest, Mutek SF, and Roulette (NYC). Check out her upcoming tour dates after the YouTube embed below.