Melbourne artist Cale Sexton’s (Butter Sessions) new album Sustain was created using Federation Bells, which are a permanent harmonically-unique kinetic sound installation comprising 39 inverted bells located in Birrarung Marr, Melbourne. They’re also programmable, where Sexton like Pantha Du Prince and Christina Tester before him was commissioned by The City Of Melbourne to create his own unique composition.
The bells form the backbone to Sustain and you can hear them on this new single ‘The Smell Of Dirt’. The interplay between the bells and the additional electronic instrumentation on this extended tripped out motorik piece is nothing short of beguiling. Sexton also plays Roland Tr 808, Roland Boutique Tr08, Roland 606, Elektron Octatrack, Elektron Digitakt, Roland Juno 106, Roland Hs60, Roland Sh32, Yamaha Dx7, Nord Rack 2, Vermona Mono Lancet, Vermona Filter Lancet, Roland Re201, Alesis Midiverb, Lexicon Reflex, bass guitar, and guitar across the album.
It was Melbourne artist Miles Brown who referred to the album as ‘a fascinating form of hybrid interdimensional exotica,’ and he goes on to say “the bell elements are so elegantly integrated into the composition that it’s easy to forget that this giant outdoor instrument is the backbone of the work. This is no mean feat when one considers that this public percussion robot has sometimes been described as atonal or harmonically difficult. Rather than attempt to circumvent these limitations, Sexton leans into the weirdness of the bell tonalities, coaxing a complementary sound palette from his highly malleable electronic instrumentation.”
Sustain is released on the 16th of April 2021 via Heavy Machinery Records. You Can find it here.
