Fata Morgana
From Andrew Foley and Joel Saunders:
A Fata Morgana is a mirage above the horizon —an optical phenomenon often experienced over oceans, where shapes distort and waver between clarity and abstraction.
AF: For this recording, Joel shaped melodies and soundscapes with circuit-bent CASIO keyboards and tape loops. I focused on software synthesis including using semi-deprecated, modular tracker software.
JS: Despite living in neighbouring suburbs, the record was created remotely. I’d send a melody to Andrew that he’d refract into a drone. An excerpt from an improvised piece could become the texture for a synth pad. I’d send files via email to Andrew before putting my young son to bed and waking up to find the bulk of a composition in reply. Listening back, sleep-deprived, it wouldn’t always be clear to me what elements I’d contributed or how they’d been transformed.
AF: There would be layers of degradation and hiss in the recordings arising from the cheap, modified Casio keyboards and tape walkmans Joel used. These hazy outlines took shape with melodies like shimmering fish, and basslines as murky ocean creatures.
JS: Andrew shared with me the phenomena of Fata Morgana, and it resonated not only with these sounds that hovered above and below the horizon, but also with our process of inverting and distorting each other’s sound.
credits
released July 11, 2025
This is A Guide To Saints edition
Written and Produced by Andrew Foley and Joel Saunders
Mastered by Lawrence English at Negative Space
license
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