Marcus Whale contemplates the void on ‘Ecstasy’
Mesmeric. Addictive. Transcendental. Vibrating. Oscillating. Spiralling.
These are some of the words Marcus Whale uses when he’s describing the sound of his latest album, Ecstasy.
Ecstasy comes from the Greek word ekstasis, which, in Marcus’ definition, means to be outside yourself, making porous the boundaries of the body and soul.
‘In trying to breach the impossible distance between the self and the outside, you end up oscillating between the two limits and that becomes like a vibration,’ he says.
‘And all sound is vibration. So that’s the basis behind a lot of this.’
On Ecstasy, Marcus Whale creates a throbbing, thundering, pulsating and penetrative soundscape that blurs the boundaries of the self. At the same time, the voice, sometimes airy, is duplicated, stretched. Marcus Whale wants to you to be hypnotised.
In this interview with 2SER’s Josh Green, Marcus unpacks the texts, sounds, and influences from his personal life that inspired Ecstasy.
Songs in the podcast:
∞ [intro]
Void [9:23]
Oblivion [17:59]
∞ [26:00]
Shepherd’s Voice [29:25]
Get tickets to the Sydney album launch at PACT in Erskineville on 27 April 2024.
