Fulana & Input/Output’s ‘Ground:From’: A Poetic Reflection on Death

Saudi artist Fulana and electronic duo Input/Output team up on a collaborative project, titled ‘Ground:From’.

Drawing inspiration from traditional Arabic poetry, the project is divided into two chapters, initiating sonic dialogues with the different patterns and cycles of nature to explore the various faces of endings, beginnings, death and rebirth.

The first chapter begins with a journey above the ground in the sandy dunes and remnants of life, right before all flesh is decomposed. In this chapter, the tone is somewhat romantic and dazed in tracks like ‘Letter #9’, ‘Decompose’ and ‘Marigold’, featuring sampled recordings of animal sounds such as birds, cicadas and crickets.

As we move into the next chapter, the tone shifts into longing for life in ‘Thank You, Goodnight’, a bird’s eye perspective on the ugly reality and face of death, embodied in the sounds of thunder, volcanic eruptions and tidal crashes. This conversation with death culminates in defeat with ‘The Return’, referring to the inescapable destiny of humanity of returning to the ground of earth from which we were born.

The production of the project is balanced, incorporating light acoustic instrumentation with breathy electronic patterns, evoking an almost organic feel. This sense of dreaminess of the instrumentation contrasts perfectly with the emotionally dense and heavy themes of death and decay.