Headquartered in Stockholm, Kali Malone is an American composer and musician who creates sonic monoliths that tug at the very material of listening. Via analog and digital synthesis — and within compositional frameworks that utilize just intonation and psychoacoustic phenomena — Malone’s minimalism maintains a certain gravity even as the ground below shifts. A recent string of critically acclaimed albums explore harmonic interplay within elec- tro-acoustic instrumentation: woodwinds with buchla 200 synthesiser, strings quartets with sine waves, and — most notably — the pipe organ close mic’d and spatialized. Using synthetic and acoustic instrumentation in repetitive and extended durations, Malone’s rich harmonic textures emit a distinct emotive hue serving to generate a captivating and uncanny depth of focus.
For now the highpoint is The Sacrificial Code, an ode to the pipe organ. “While The Sacrificial Code sidesteps the traditional sonic characteristics of such religious sites, its clean minimalism and graceful melodies conjure similarly powerful emotions”, according to Resident Advisor. Kali Malone’s soothing, repetitive harmonies evoke big emotions that leave a tenacious impression, especially when experienced live.
Malone has performed extensively throughout Europe and North America and has collaborated and performed with a variety of artists including Caterina Barbieri, Ellen Arkbro, Sorrowing Christ, Puce Mary, Free The Land, Zach Rowden, Leila Bordreuil and Lucy Railton. In 2016 she co-founded the record label XKatedral together with Maria W Horn.
