Unburied echoes

About this playlist

You descend into a maze of echoing tunnels and caves.

You stop to stare at rock paintings.
They reflect the voices of your ancestors.

You come across a cenote.
Here you swim with the echoes.
You become a subterranean water body.

You come across a ringing nook.
It sings to you, your future.
You call out to it, its past.

How to unbury echoes in a cave?

Close your eyes. Begin by listening deeply. Whatever sound you hear, echo it—then echo your echoes, letting them spiral outward and back. Choose a simple phrase, a fragment of melody, and sing it into the air. Those around you may echo it too, shifting pitch, speed, or volume, so that the phrase begins to change. Join them in the echoing and notice how the sound grows, multiplies, transforms.

Now, imagine the voices of two realms. Call up the sounds of the underworld—darkness, fire, demons, vampires, death—and let them crawl out of you. Then turn to the heavens—clouds, angels, light, sky—and let them rise in your breath. Sing them apart, then begin to weave them together, blending shadow and light until they entwine.

Remember songs of mourning. Let fragments of grief return to you; hum them, cry them, sing them whole or broken. From these, begin to compose new soundscapes. Ask yourself: what sounds emerge when you grieve? Allow them to surface, raw and unshaped. Then call forth sounds of healing—the tones that soothe, the ones you might offer to someone in distress.

Echo upon echo, darkness and light, mourning and healing, until the cave itself becomes a living instrument of memory, transformation, and release.

Thanks, Emily, for guiding us to unbruy echoes through your voice.

Special thanks to ãssia ghendir for proposing the piece “mebarka” which was recorded nestled in the rocks in the Sahara, and to Francesca Heart for sharing “In Alto Mare” from her latest album Sphinx Nouvelle (Leaving Records). “mebarka”, grabada entre las rocas del Sahara, y a Francesca Heart por compartir “In Alto Mare” de su último álbum Sphinx Nouvelle (Leaving Records).