Evan Lindorff-Ellery

*2024 stock* Full Spectrum Records presents a beguiling new work from Notice Recordings co-owner Evan Lindorff-Ellery: ‘Church Recordings From Monhegan.’ These recordings document Evan’s encounter with the Monhegan Community Church, located on a tiny island off the coast of Maine, during a family visit in the summer of 2021. 

The church on Monhegan Island—seemingly always open, allowing one to step into its quaint, echoey, still room, the ocean and bird sounds faded in the distance—presented an alluring environment within which to continue Evan’s recently-resumed creative practice, from which he had taken a multi-year reprieve. During these ‘down’ years, Evan developed a deep attraction to characteristics of space and developed a keen ear for allowing them to dictate his expression and the tools used therein. In this case, a wide variety of both brought and found objects were utilized in activating the church’s rich resonance. Clam shells, sea glass, books, a frame drum, an acoustic guitar, a small piano, metal links, wood, plastic, and Evan’s own bodily movements can all be heard in various states of abstraction throughout the album.

The church itself was also used as a sort of sounding plane, providing a confluence point of interior and exterior atmospherics. The large window of the church, in particular, plays a crucial role in the execution of the work, acting as an organic filter for the sound of falling rain outside. Two recordings were captured in the church. The first was made in the rainy fading light of the evening, while the other was made in the early hours of the following morning with bright light shining into the space. These recordings are presented here in a largely unaltered state, barring a handful of rudimentary collages. Truly, this is elemental music from a finely attuned conductor of the environmental zone itself.