Galya Bisengalieva           composer ✧ violinist

THE SHRINKING OF THE ARAL SEA HAS BEEN CALLED ONE OF THE WORST ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS ON THE PLANET.

SITUATED IN CENTRAL ASIA, IT WAS ONCE THE FOURTH LARGEST LAKE IN THE WORLD, BUT THE RIVERS THAT FED THE ARAL WERE DIVERTED BY SOVIET IRRIGATION PROJECTS FROM THE 1960S. IT HAS BEEN DISAPPEARING EVER SINCE.

BY 1997, IT HAD DIMINISHED TO TEN PERCENT OF ITS ORIGINAL SIZE, AND SATELLITE IMAGES CAPTURED BY NASA IN AUGUST OF 2014 REVEALED THAT – FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MODERN HISTORY – THE EASTERN BASIN OF THE ARAL SEA HAD DRIED UP COMPLETELY, A REGION NOW KNOWN AS THE ARALKUM DESERT.

AS THE ARAL SEA DRIED UP, FISHERIES AND THE COMMUNITIES THAT DEPENDED ON THEM COLLAPSED. THE INCREASINGLY SALTY WATER BECAME POLLUTED WITH FERTILISERS AND PESTICIDES. THE DUST BLOWING FROM THE EXPOSED LAKEBED, CONTAMINATED WITH AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS, BECAME A PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD. THE SALTY DUST BLEW OFF THE LAKEBED AND SETTLED ONTO FIELDS, DEGRADING THE SOIL. CROPLANDS WERE FLUSHED WITH INCREASINGLY LARGER VOLUMES OF RIVER WATER. THE LOSS OF THE MITIGATING INFLUENCE OF SUCH A LARGE BODY OF WATER MADE WINTERS COLDER, AND SUMMERS HOTTER AND DRIER.

IN A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE THE LAKE, KAZAKHSTAN CONSTRUCTED THE KOKARAL DAM, SEPARATING THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN PARTS. THE DAM, SPANNING ACROSS 12 KILOMETRES, SEPARATES THE TWO BODIES OF WATER AND PREVENTS A DOWNWARD OUTFLOW. THANKS TO THE KOKARAL, FISHERIES IN THE NORTH HAVE REBOUNDED, IN SPITE OF IT LIMITING THE FLOW INTO THE SOUTH. WATER LEVELS RECOVERED NOTABLY BETWEEN 2005 AND 2006, WITH MINUTE IMPROVEMENTS RECORDED THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE TIME PERIOD.

THE ALBUM IS SPLIT INTO THREE PARTS:
PRE-DISASTER, CALAMITY, FUTURE.

COMPOSED BY GALYA BISENGALIEVA
RECORDED AT NOMAD MUSIC PRODUCTIONS
PRODUCED BY ROBERT AMES, BEN CORRIGAN
MIXED BY ROBERT SOMA-LEWIS AT AMBIENT WORKS
MASTERED BY DENIS BLACKHAM AT SKYE MASTERING

CONTRABASS FLUTE PERFORMED BY PASHA MANSUROV

DESIGN BY XIAOFEISTUDIO
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY NASA

BARSA-KELMES - music video
Taken from the album Aralkum
Directed by Damir Otegen
Creative Agency - STORM

Production Studio - Uali Animation 
Illustrations/Rigging - Abay Imanov 
Illustrations/Storyboard - Aigerim Sattar
Animation - Temirlan Uali

                                        TRACKS

tùs
Written by Claire M Singer

Tulpar
Written by Galya Bisengalieva

Oparin
Written by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch

Recorded at Spitfire Audio, London
Engineers: Harry Wilson & Simon Hendry
Assistant Engineer: Henry Cornish
All tracks mastered by Denis Blackham @ Skye

Photography: Nicol Vizioli
Design: Baxter and Bailey

TULPAR - music video
Written by Galya Bisengalieva
Produced & Mixed by Ben Corrigan

Director: Nicol Vizioli
Cinematographer: Andrew Rodger
Editor: Laura Delle Piane

LIMITED EDITION VINYL 

PURCHASE HERE>>︎

Zohra
Written by Shiva Feshareki

Umay
Written by Galya Bisengalieva

Claycorn
Written by CHAINES

Tulpar - ACTRESS 26 Drones Remix
(digital bonus - not on vinyl)

Zohra -
perfomed by Shiva & Galya 
creative mixdown by Loraine James
mixed by Simon Hendry

Umay -
shankobyz played by Murat
produced & mixed by Ben Corrigan

Claycorn -
performed by Galya
mixed by CHAINES & Simon Hendry

Recorded at Spitfire Audio, London
Engineers: Harry Wilson & Simon Hendry
Assistant Engineer: Henry Cornish
All tracks mastered by Denis Blackham @ Skye

Design - Baxter and Bailey

LIMITED EDITION VINYL

PURCHASE HERE >>︎