# acoustic electronic avant-garde experimental

Everyone has experienced that vague premonition we feel when the leaves of trees stir under the breath of spring wind. This premonition is the theme of Tatiana Timonina’s debut album, inspired by the classical poetry of China and Japan. The sparse poetics of Zen Buddhism emphasize an intuitive perception of the world — contemplating the transience of life, the fleeting joy and sorrow, the illusory nature of dreams, an organic relationship with nature, and a sense of passing time. These are things that are difficult to represent in language and symbols but can be expressed through sound.

However, the album “A Flower?” sidesteps the pitfalls typical of musical explorations inspired by Eastern mysticism. Here, we won’t encounter clichéd and trite New Age tropes. According to Tatiana herself, the form of the songs was inspired by the structure of the poems, by the sound of the text itself. In this album, we are not witnessing description but an attempt to name things themselves through sound, as if naming them for the first time.

Are these songs? At first glance, they seem hard to accept as such. The artist’s years of improvisational experience are evident. The fragile and cold electronic texture, with its granular whispers, crackles, and hums, is disturbed by the shimmering acoustic flourishes of wind and keyboard instruments. Sometimes atonal, yet genuine in its imperfections. Undoubtedly, Tatiana Timonina’s work is rooted in the rich tradition of 20th-century electroacoustic experimental music and contemporary classical music.

Yet, despite the vagueness underpinning these songs, their form never dissipates or falls into abstract generalizations. A hidden rhythm and meticulous collage-like composition are held together by the voice — sometimes distorted, sometimes sounding from afar, and at other times, palpably close. Behind all the intricacy and rigor of the composition lies an echo of the genuine charm and sensuality of popular music. This is truly avant-pop in all its uncompromising glory.

According to Timonina, this tension between restraint and sensuality is incredibly important because it promises a perspective on things from both inside and outside at once. Perhaps this boldness and determination for genre experimentation stem from Tatiana Timonina’s extensive artistic experience: performing in academic contemporary music ensembles, electroacoustic improvisation, and teaching classical instruments. Her debut album “A Flower?” reveals another, more intimate side of her creative nature, demonstrating how adventurous and exploratory modern popular music can be.

released March 1, 2025

Mixing and mastering by Lino Schilling
Artwork by Miao Zhao and Tatiana Timonina
Text by Evgeny Bylina