by
Juno Daily
on 19.05.2025 at 13:46pm.
Last edited: 19.05.2025 at 13:49pm.
Expect a big buzz on this
The artists – including two members of Spiritualized – who collaborated on the hugely acclaimed Kew Gardens installation The Hive, have created a soundtrack album for a new bee exhibition in Liverpool.
Karman Line Collective’s To Be arrives on the UK’s National Bee Day (May 20) and will be available on 12” vinyl via the Solitary Bee label.
It was written and recorded by artist Wolfgang Buttress with Kevin Bales and Tony Foster (Spiritualized, Julian Cope), and Justin Goodyer, as an immersive new soundscape for Buttress’ latest art installation – BEES: A Story of Survival – a multi-sensory experience at World Museum, Liverpool.
This exhibition highlights the essential role these ingenious pollinators play within the planet’s ecosystems, as well as the existential threat faced by both bees and humanity alike due to our mistreatment of the planet.
They’ve shared a video for the track ‘Portal’ ahead of its release tomorrow.
Eight years ago, along with thousands of bees, Wolfgang Buttress worked with Bales and Foster as BE to soundtrack his multi award-winning art installation The Hive in Kew Gardens, London. The album ONE collected that soundscape and was released on Caught by the River’s Rivertones label to much critical acclaim and featured in multiple best album of the year lists, including those of Rough Trade, The Quietus and The Guardian.
The soundscape for BEES: A Story of Survival builds on and evolves the group’s previous work on The Hive and develops it as one of the exhibition’s main narrative devices. Buttress has likened moving through the exhibition to following the contours of a song: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle eight, drop, chorus, chorus – much like how the eight installations in the piece meld into and inform each other. The music – along with light, sound, projection and scent – take the visitor on an emotional and sensorial journey into the secret world of bees.
Created over three years of writing and recording, To Be combines previously unheard recordings of bee communications with deeply enveloping meditative music. These unique bee communication sounds are used as raw musical stems within the composition; some are processed through guitar pedals to augment the music creating an entirely new library of sounds. Throughout the record, the listener will hear bees communicating in various ways, from the vibrations produced by their famous ‘waggle dance,’ to the sounds melittologists refer to as’ tooting, quacking and purring.
To Be was written, recorded, mixed and produced by Karman Line Collective (Kev Bales, Wolfgang Buttress, Tony Foster, Justin Goodyer) with help from Camille Christel (words, vocals), Deirdre Bencsik (cello), Robert Howard (guitar), David Harris (trumpet) and Ian Downing (saw).
Pre-order your vinyl copy of To Be, out on May 20, by clicking here
