Many of the theremin players of the late 20th century retained some kind of connection to the instrument's inventor and its early players, cultivating similar styles that emphasized its vocal quality. However,
Carolina Eyck has taken the instrument into new territory. She doesn't really deploy the theremin in vocal-like lines but sets it off against her own voice, which here offers only syllables rather than words, and may be heard solo or multitracked. The theremin makes all kinds of sounds that you may not have heard it make before, often hanging out in its lower register and adding a smooth murmuring in counterpoint to the abstract voice. The tracks all have single-word titles that convey little or nothing, but the theremin itself and its interplay with
Eyck's voice can be quite expressive, living up to the album's
Elegies title. The overall effect is to strip the theremin of its exotic, science-fiction quality and to make a case for it as a unique mediator between the worlds of conventional and electronic instruments. Highly recommended.