Figurine of a Seated Goddess | Astrid Sonne - Great Doubt (Escho)

Figurine of a Seated Goddess. Medium: Baked Clay. Place of origin: Catalhöyük - 1st half of 6th millennium BC. Collection: The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara, Turkey.

In Neolithic art, figurines generally depict women, while representations of men are extremely rare. With the advent of agriculture, society may have become preoccupied not only with the fertility of humans and animals but also with that of the soil and its fruits. The Neolithic female figurine may therefore be the prototype of the Mother Goddess, representing fertility in all its aspects – human, animal, and vegetal. They may have been used as amulets for fertility, protection against evil, and relief in childbearing, and in the cult of the dead. The female figurines are therefore often labeled ‘fertility figurines’ or ‘Mother Goddess’ figurines.

Music Suggestion:

Astrid Sonne - Great Doubt (Escho) released January 26, 2024.

“Great Doubt” is the third full-length LP by Danish composer Astrid Sonne. Throughout her acclaimed discography, Astrid Sonne has been carefully crafting different moods through electronic and acoustic instrumental endeavors. On “Great Doubt” this skill is refined, with the distinct addition of the composer's own vocal in front. The tone of each track is unmistakably Sonne’s, structured around contrasts through an impeccable sense of timing. Lyrics on the album are sparse, merely highlighting different scenes or emotional states of being, leaving the music to fill in the blanks. Yet they also form a pattern of ambiguity, consolidated through the album title, searching for answers through looking at how and what you are asking, questions for the world, questions of love.

The viola, a trusted companion since Astrid Sonne’s youth, appears effortlessly throughout the album, fully integrated into the sonic universe; through a pizzicato-driven arrangement in the poignant track “Almost” or along with booms and claps in mutated cinematic stabs during “Give my all”, paraphrasing Mariah Carey's 1997 ballad. Yet the string section also gives way to explorations of woodwinds, counterbalancing the bowed movements with digital brass and airy flutes. Finally, beats and detuned piano are fresh additions to the soundscape, cementing how Sonne’s practice always evolves into new territories. My favorite tracks are:  2. "Do you wanna",  3. "Give my all", 5. "Boost", 6. "Everything is Unreal" and 7. "Staying here". Recommended!