**80 copies** The Yorkshire based tape splicer and improvisor Stuart Chalmers has been using found cassettes to create his own sounds since his days playing with Cube Orchestra in Bristol. After moving to north east England, he has focused more on nature and sonic spirits – his latest effort for Ikuissuus has been recorded around various forests, mountains, bothies, shooting huts and old barns. "To truly understand nature you must lose yourself in it, but its then you actually find yourself. The last in the series of the Swarmandal focused albums, a celebration of natures elements.  Living in a campervan during the past year has immersed me in the natural world and its rhythms/cycles. Being around the Pennines and North York Moors has given me a sense that nature can be calm but also intense and full of violent energy. The making of this album through the autumn/winter with the change in weather along with my laptop dying, covid lockdown, the heater failing and the van breaking down has been a tough experience. Its been one of the hardest albums for me to finish. Hopefully this has been worth it and you can feel the wild, raw beauty of it all.  Nature doesnt need us, but we need nature."   Improvised, recorded, edited Sept 2020- March 2021 using Swarmandal, tape, FX, percussion, voice, field recordings/samples.  

Mixed and mastered by Martin Bowes at The Cage. Photo by Stuart Chalmers. Layout by Kryptinen Käki. 

"Learn of the pine, from the pine, learn of the bamboo from the bamboo" - Matsuo Basho