Music review: Cryosphere, Eden Court, Inverness

LUCIE Treacher is a 24-year-old composer and filmmaker from Sutherland. That multiple role is vital in understanding both the conception and effect of such musical/visual creations as her latest music video, Cryosphere, supported by Creative Scotland and screened publicly in Inverness today.

Lucie Trencher's Cryosphere

Cryosphere, Eden Court, Inverness ****

Central to its inspiration are the nearby Inchindown oil tunnels at Invergordon, whose echo is purportedly the longest in the world. Thus a soundtrack, recorded on site, that evokes an unwordliness and eerie timelessness. There is a folk-like charm to Treacher’s floating sung melodies, which form and dissipate like passing thoughts in the ultra-ambient sound chamber.

They are part of a sound world gleaned from an elemental instrumental palette, sonic gestures that combine in more sculptural form than temporal. Images are more important in this magical sound world than narrative. Treacher, herself, appears as singer and performer.

So what is this film all about? It is, says its creator, about “the human and environmental sacrifices made in the search for oil.”

Archive footage from North Sea oil rigs permeate 
Treacher’s visual mosaic, which intersperses the realism of these industrial images with more subliminal flights of fancy.

Ultimately, this is a delightful sight and sound experience, a captivating cocktail of sensations that is greater than the sum of its parts. Love the music, savour the cinematics, soak in the nostalgia. Better still, just let all of that wash over you in one big sensorial fix.

KEN WALTON