Emerging composer Laura Kampman has unveiled her debut EP Coming into Daily Life. In this two-part project, the Dutch experimentalist turns toward introspection, piecing together her archive of collected phone recordings as a nurturing practice during the grief of a family member’s death.
It is a beautiful reminder of the daily soundscape of life that we often overlook. Following her father’s passing two years ago, Laura’s world suddenly changed color. Grief forcefully changed her relationship to sound; listening to music was too emotionally overwhelming for her. Still, she longed for the comfort of sound. These intimate recordings, recorded over several years and without any intention, offered her a carefully composed reality in times of sadness – less hard and fast, but with an ear for detail and tranquillity. After realizing this form of music brought her a lot of comfort, she went on to explore this practice and ultimately created gentle, dreamlike, and playful soundscapes. This led to her EP Coming into Daily Life. An ode to slowly re-entering back into the world after it has changed its color.
In Coming into Daily Life the Utrecht-based musician reaches unfathomable layers of beauty. A spare, drifting EP, inviting listeners on a journey of introspection and emotion, reminiscent of the ambient intimacy of Grouper, the conceptualism of John Cage, and the finely wrought collages of The Books.
Discussing the project Laura says: “With this EP I hope to add a little bit to normalizing conversations about death and grief and moving past the taboo. Yes, grief it’s incredibly sad but it’s also the other side of love. Through its sharpness, I slowly started noticing beauty of which I wasn’t aware before. I’ve fallen in love with the comfort of daily sounds and that inspired me to create these compositions, they opened my eyes and ears again and provided such support.”
Listen to the track
Photo credit: Self-portrait by Laura Kampman
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