Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

Early life and education

Smith grew up and was home-educated on Orcas Island, Northwestern Washington. She left the island to study composition and sound engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, before returning to the island after her graduation.

It was after returning home that Smith discovered synthesizers, when a neighbor introduced her to the Buchla 100 Synthesizer. Having originally intended to use her voice as her primary instrument, and then moving to classical guitar and piano, Smith switched to the use of synthesizer after being lent and experimenting with the Buchla 100 for a year.

Music development and style

Smith formed indie-folk band Ever Isles whilst still at Berklee but left the project after discovering the Buchla 100, explaining, "I got so distracted and enamored with the process of making sounds with [the Buchla's potential] that I abandoned the next Ever Isles album".

When developing her composition skills, Smith used visual aid as inspiration for her music. She has said that she is always composing to a visual in her head, explaining, "Sometimes I let the sound create the image for me and then I build off that. Or vice versa: I come up with imagery that is inspiring to me, or I see something that is inspiring, and then create sounds that I feel match it".

Original scores

Ears

Ears is Smith's fifth studio album and the second to be released by independent record label Western Vinyl. It was released on 1 April 2016.

Production

Ears was composed, recorded, arranged, produced and mixed by Smith. The record was mastered by Simon Heyworth.

Instrumentation in the form of flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone and tenor saxophone were used in the recording of the LP, their parts being composed by Smith and performed by Rob Frye. Smith plays the Buchla Music Easel, EMS Synthi, ARP 2600, Oscar, Korg Mono/Poly, Electrocomp 101, and the Moog Werkstatt, as well as incorporating the use of her own voice.

In describing the writing process for Ears, Smith has stated that "every single track started out as a song - and then I produced it and added woodwind parts, trying to blend my two worlds [orchestral compositions and songs]." She has described Ears as a project where she "wanted it to feel like you're going through a sonic journey, like a 3D motion ride through a futuristic jungle".

Critical reception

Ears received an overwhelmingly positive response upon its release. Raymond Cummings of Spin Records suggested that the album "might be an ultimate track to the season", whilst Clash (magazine) described the album as "...a stunning evocation of that decision [to trust in the subconscious], a magnificent aural topography of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith's inspired imagination". The LP was also "album of the week" for online music store Bleep.com, and Sammy Jones of Crack Magazine noted that Smith "sees the human, the organic, and the cosmic cast aloft together, spinning and enveloping - the world, illustrated as perfect and beautiful". Upon its release, BBC Radio 6 Music's Mary Anne Hobbs played all twelve minutes of "Existence in the Unfurling" on her show.

Ears featured heavily in 2016 end-of-year lists with mentions from several prominent online magazines, listed at #29 on Pitchfork's 50 Best Albums of 2016, #14 on Resident Advisor's 20 Best Albums, #30 on NPR Music's Best 50 Albums of 2016, and chosen as Norman Records' Album of the Year 2016. The track "Existence in the Unfurling" was placed at #70 on Pitchfork's 100 Best Songs of 2016, whilst Ears was mentioned in Pitchfork's 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2016 (along with Kaitlyn's collaboration with Suzanne Ciani, Sunergy). Crack Magazine also cited Ears and Sunergy at #10 and #94, respectively, on their Top 100 Albums of the Year 2016.