John Surman and Karin Krog present Electric Element, a previously unreleased suite of electroacoustic experiments dating back to 2013. Originally conceived as the soundtrack to an ambitious, futuristic theatre project—complete with lasers, dancers, and multiple stages—the music was shelved when the production fell through. A decade later, these sessions finally see the light of day thanks to Johnny Trunk.

Working in Oslo over several days, Surman and Krog recorded a series of free-form, improvisational pieces that build on the foundations of their 1979 duo album Cloud Line Blue, but stretch further into abstract, digitally-altered terrain. Krog’s vocals, filtered through ring modulators and voice transformers, tangle with Surman’s processed bass and contrabass clarinets, wind synths and electronics. Their longtime collaborator Ben contributed further post-processing using granular synthesis, Max/MSP, Ableton Live and Reaktor, shaping the recordings into volatile, otherworldly textures.