SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DEBORAH FIALKIEWICZ – GENETIC RADIO I.D.

DEBORAH FIALKIEWICZ
GENETIC RADIO I.D.
INDEPENDENT

Deborah Fialkiewicz is a prolific and very talented artist, either solo or as a member of Bloom, Spore, Feasibility Study, and albums with Wilfried Hanrath and {An}Eel. She has developed her own style and her own distinct sound. She has been recording solo albums since 2020, and Genetic Radio i.d. is her first release of new studio material since 2023’s Daughters Of The Industrialists. With Genetic Radio i.d. Fialkiewicz has decided to shake things up a little and combine sounds of this album with various tracks, although this was somewhat of a risk for an established artist, it works in her favour. Genetic Radio i.d. is a fascinating, intriguing and quite simply a brilliant album.

The first track on the album is a reserved, mellow, almost ambient piece. “summer mantra” has a quiet groove, but listen carefully to what is going behind the constant beat. It is a brilliant way to start the album. The next track builds on the musical theme of “summer mantra”. Again, “the lief” is a much more reserved Fialkiewicz, but at the same time the music forces the listener to focus on the music. One of Fialkiewicz’s strengths is the use of patterns and sound. She forms a solid foundation with the repetition and then adds on gradually.

But make no mistake, this instrumental avant garde album is not all peace and quiet. Songs like “corpus” grind and drill into your ears. It leaves one with an unsettling feeling, like watching a good horror film. “bloodchild”, which immediately follows, makes great use of synthesizers and sound. It reminds me a little of George Harrison’s Electronic Sound, if that album had been a bit more organized. It is loud, and once again, borders on disturbing. Again, it is the sounds buried in the mix that make the song so fascinating and exciting.

The album ends with the 13-min “timeslip’ which is trademark Fialkiewicz. She makes great use of silence and again, she has a wonderful sense of timing and when to build on the sound. The song does not feel like it is 13 minutes, as it takes the listener on a journey through space and time. It really is a remarkable track, and the perfect ending for the album.

Throughout Genetic Radio i.d., Fialkiewicz uses sound and organizes it like a symphony. Starting slow, and relatively quiet and building during the album to louder and layered sounds, until she ends with a 13-min track that does it all in one song. Fialkiewicz has expanded her horizons with this album, and it shows just how talented she is. While she has made classical and other albums in her past, this album brings everything together. She gets help from her Spore partner John Koser (who contributed to “timeslip”) and Bloom member Daniel James Dolby, who mixed and mastered the album. Genetic Radio i.d. stands apart from her previous albums and really is in a class all of its own.

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