Exclusive album premiere of ‘Murmuration’ by Calum Builder, out January 27th via Barefoot Records.

Calum Builder is an award-winning saxophonist and composer. He has performed both as a soloist and with his ensembles at international jazz, classical and experimental music festivals across Northern Europe & Australia. Calum’s 2021 critically acclaimed album ‘Messe (You are where you need to be)’ is a major work featuring 21 musicians (seven voices, seven double basses and seven saxophones) drawing on the inherent tension residing within faith, contemplation and grief. Enjoy his latest album, ‘Murmuration’ in full.

‘Murmuration’ is an eclectic mix of ambient jazz and contemporary composition. The album moves as one uniform entity that subtly shifts form and shape in ebbs and flows. Encompassing a unique blend of instrumentation ranging from “saxophones and trumpets” to those more commonly found in chamber ensembles, such as low brass, strings and bassoon, ‘Murmuration’ weaves between orchestrated hive-mind elements that take the listener through ambient fields and chaotic rumbles.

“The album is influenced by my vivid recurring dreams of living in Australia — from a murmuration of birds moving like a “giant shadow floating in the wind,” to visions of violent swirling water within a vast dark expanse of sea. Calum Builder

<a href="https://barefootrecords.bandcamp.com/album/murmuration">Murmuration by Calum Builder</a>

“Somewhere between the stillness and chaos of the 2020 lockdown, I began to have vivid recurring dreams of living back in Australia. At first, they were preoccupied with the intemperateness of nature — raging fires and flash floods; the cyclones from up north and scorching heat waves. I dreamt of violent swirling water and of torrential rain that would sting my face as I walked through a storm at night. The dreams slowly turned more mystical; watching murmurations of birds in a field across from my house — they moved like giant shadows floating in the wind. I was reminded of practicing on headlands that overlooked the ocean, with nothing but a vast expanse of sea that stretched on for thousands of kilometers. The surrounding wind nudged me around. Perhaps this album represents my remedy for homesickness — of a place that is not actually my home anymore. It is one that seems distant and increasingly more like a dream.” Calum Builder

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