Rūmĭnor is the new instrumental collaborative project out of Melbourne, formed by Namazu, Sam Haven and Saleeha.
Conceived from a mutual appreciation for each other’s creative endeavours (Namazu – a guitarist, spoken word sampler and field recorder; Haven – a multi-instrumentalist, producer; Saleeha – an experimental guitar-based composer), the result is Rūmĭnor’s excellent debut album, Flew Mirrored on the Water.
Ahead of tomorrow’s release, exclusive to Sun 13, be the first to listen to Flew Mirrored on the Water in full below.
Flew Mirrored on the Water was written over a six month period and recorded and engineered by Chris Townend (Disco Inferno, The Lucksmiths, Die! Die! Die! et al) at Frying Pan Studio, housed within Hobart, Tasmania’s iconic MONA (Museum of Old and New Art).
From the first note of Flew Mirrored on the Water, it’s clear that each member of Rūmĭnor is pulling from different places within the enclave of experimentalism. There’s no pastiche here, though, as Rūmĭnor’s music travels confidently beyond the borders, underpinned by brooding minimalism that actually takes post-rock to where it should be going. Alongside Fire Nearby’s Fruits of Patience, it’s fitting how two of the year’s finest releases in the space of instrumental-based music have landed so close together.
Speaking to Sun 13 ahead of Friday’s release of Flew Mirrored on the Water, the band comments:
“When we started this process, some of us hardly even knew each other. We came together out of mutual respect and some shared ideas on making music, and we set about writing this record to be recorded in this specific place, with this specific desk. It was like a full creative immersion because we had to navigate these unusual constraints and use our instincts, and that is one reason the music is really pure and organic. The ‘how’, ‘why’ and ‘where’ is a big part of the story of this record, and it’s really personal to us because of that.”
Throughout these compositions, patterns emerge through soft, undulating drones, washing over you like the quintessential sound bath. Flew Mirrored on the Water is a word building record and what a world it is – Rūmĭnor, responsible for one of the year’s best debut releases from Australian shores.
Flew Mirrored on the Water is out tomorrow. Purchase from Bandcamp.
Rūmĭnor - Flew Mirrored on the Water 