PREMIERE | Flora Hibberd, "Code"
The creative pop concepts, and intrinsic investigations of esoteric algorithms, brilliantly orchestrated by Flora Hibberd; photographed by Andrea Poon.
To fully engage with the world is to continuously decipher the sciences of society and earth that surround us. This involves active investigation and curiosity about the media we consume, the information exchanges that codify communicative discourse, and the all but invisible patterns, cycles, and surprises observed in eco systems. Upon closer inspection we can witness the parallels and cross sections that connect us to one another. The cognates discovered in comparative linguistic studies traverse the rabbit holes of etymology to gain better knowledge on the relationships between similarly conjured words between disparate tongues. Consider the ways in which the animal kingdom converses and relays urgent messages through cryptic songs, signals, to mating calls that herald nightfall to the daybreak light of the morning sun. As perpetual students of life we find how everything and everyone connects on a multitude of unique and innovative levels. If one looks, listens, feels, and reads deep enough they can gain a better understanding of how both the physical and metaphysical schools alike all share certain common threads (like an ever-growing patchwork quilt being knitted in perpetuity).
In this spirit, Paris by way of the UK artist Flora Hibberd entertains the “Code” behind the mysteries of the natural and human-made realms. Featured on the upcoming January-slated album Swirl for 22Twenty, Flora follows up the recent singles “Canopy” and “Auto Icon” with a search for meaning amid the transmission waves of the wondrous and sublime. Working with famed producer Shane Leonard in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (otherwise known as the unofficial capitol for all buzz-worthy acts of international notoriety), Hibberd ventures into the oceans and atmospheres of understanding and observational depths. Recorded with collaborator Victor Claass alongside JT Bates, Ben Lester, Pat Keen, and J.E. Sunde; Swirl spins into a whirlpool that draws in all inquisitive minds and daydreamers pondering the ways in which everything—and everyone—are inherently a part of everything.
"Code" begins with a whirring electric hum, like a broadcast from a mysterious transmitter caught on a handheld transistor. Flora Hibberd examines metaphors for interpersonal connectiveness and the corresponding disconnections through metaphors of radio waves, and the way they travel between all involved antennae receptors. The subtle, understated electronic touches are carefully stitched into the sweet stepping rhythmic sways to compliment Flora's wandering dream stream of examinations about all things that emanate from the heart, the spirit, the universe, and radio towers. "Code" playfully explores the hidden systems, physics, and fascinations that can be found in between the in-between of all living matter. Flora focuses on where the connections are made, where they are frayed, and how we find these all but secret passages to decode the matters and miscellany where we find a deeper meaning—even if the constructs lie beyond our immediate scope of comprehension.
Featuring visuals directed and edited by Roberto Cicogna, “Code” becomes a quest to capture and identify wayward wavelengths of sound and overall sensory. The visuals incorporate a sunny garden performance from Flora and the band, cinematically underscoring the interplay between the way humankind both listens and contributes to the soundtracks of our shared and personal spaces. The video for "Code" sharpens the lens on the quest to find the epistemology of the things that strike us as interesting and unique, and the search for the source of mind enlightening sounds. "Code" is Flora Hibberd's ode to the underlying origins that ties together all forms of interconnectedness. An artist who also translates art history documents, Flora follows the intricate threads of language's many mutations and permutations into the musical fields and philosophical arts fueled by the wonder and awe of where universal concepts meet, and where they divert.
The insights and arts of Flora Hibberd; photographed by Dingo Jones.
Flora offered some meditations on the inspirations that informed “Code” and more:
The song is in some way about searching, and the idea for the video arose from there. I had an image in mind of someone walking through a city, through a park, through a strange landscape trying to pick up a transmission, or hearing a song and trying to figure out where it’s coming from. I had seen this film called Acoustic Ocean by Ursula Biemann, a still from it sits under the mirror in my bathroom, so it’s always resurfacing in my mind. At the beginning, we see the main character setting up recording equipment on an island in Northern Norway to explore underwater sound. I find the question of how to visually represent a search for sound very exciting. Later we also started thinking about scenes in Blow Out by Brian De Palma, in which John Travolta’s character goes out with his portable tape machine and directional microphone and scans the landscape.
The codes and modes of Flora Hibberd; photographed by Victor Claass.
Meanwhile the band is playing in a carnivalesque setting with kites and banners, like a Victorian circus or the Rolling Thunder Revue. The weird synths of the song work nicely with the anachronistic recording/transmitting tech we used as props. The video was filmed over two days in Paris and directed and edited by the brilliant Roberto Cicogna. I can’t thank him enough for everything he brought to the project, not only beautiful images and ideas but location-scouting, planning and making things extremely chill and fun for everyone involved.
Flora Hibberd’s debut album Swirl arrives January 17 via 22Twenty.