How Much Time Is It Between You And Me?

Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, Aleksandra Zakharenko has been recording a sonic diary of field recordings and other sounds since moving to Berlin. She started a podcast called WET (Weird Erotic Tension), layering atmospheric sounds and music with spoken word erotica, and 2019s Irer Dent, her first release as Perila, brought this technique to vinyl. Since then, shes issued several additional tape and vinyl releases, plus collaborations with Huerco S. and Exael (as part of the rave-inspired supergroup Critical Amnesia) and Ulla. 2021s How Much Time It Is Between You and Me?, regarded as her debut album, was mainly recorded in September 2020 during a trip to a remote village in France, surrounded by mountains. The records title comes from a line within the track Time Date, a spoken story about a girl obsessed with time. Perila speaks calmly as if leading a guided meditation, and shes submerged within a vat of hiss, her voice surrounded by erratic clanging. The lengthy You Disappear You Find Yourself Again is a dry, intricately textured drone, with pianos and drifting, dubby drums gradually emerging. Blanket is more immersive, with sounds floating around as if theyre in a pool, and a soft, bassy pulse providing a gentle heartbeat of a rhythm. Fallin Into Space shapes incidental sounds (faint taps, a squeaking chair) into a trip-hop-like rhythm, with Perilas whispers barely audible underneath the calm, clear synth pads. While there are plenty of soothing tones flowing throughout Perilas music, theres also a lot of close-miked sounds that rise to the front of the mix, and its often far too obtrusive to be labeled ambient music. Instead, this is music intended for deep listening -- make sure youre in a safe place, strap on headphones, close your eyes, and see where your mind takes you. ~ Paul Simpson