Hedonism can be tricky in art – such big expression can come off as cheesy or try-hard, especially outside of the hypergloss realm of pop. But Sudan Archives sees music as a form of world-building, taking historical and cultural signposts and reshaping them into a map that connects the sacred and the synthetic, the ancient and the electric. She threads needles in four dimensions, taking risks effortlessly and boldly.
Speaking from her home office, Sudan Archives is framed by stringed instruments: a Persian kamancheh, a West African fiddle, an Indonesian rebab, a Japanese kokyū, an electric violin shaped, as she puts it, with a “very sci-fi” mien. Each hangs like a relic, but once they come off of their place on the wall they become a vibrant expression in motion. “I’m collecting a bunch of them right now,” she says, a proud joy spreading across her face. “The violin, the fiddle, they are important to so many different cultures around the world, and I love learning about them all.”
That fascination began in childhood, when a Canadian folk group visited her Ohio school. “They were strutting around, almost dancing, stomping on the floor and playing the fiddle, very raw and free,” she remembers. “The orchestra is very beautiful, but the setting is uptight. But this was so cool, so different, and I wanted to be a part of it.” That spark would carry her across the world, from fiddles’ role in Irish reels to Sufi music, from church choirs to experimental clubs, tracing the instrument’s path through centuries and continents.
One form seems to have particularly caught her attention of late. “I love Sufi music,” she says softly. “It really resonates with my soul, and reminds me of being a little girl in church, playing violin for the choir.” Though Sudan Archives’ new album, The BPM, pulls more on electronic dance music flourishes and hip hop energy, the spinning, hypnotic core of the songs does draw from Sufi. It’s this blend of intricacy and wild spirit that defines her new, self-professed “gadget girl” era, a sound somewhere between Detroit clubs and the stratosphere, powered by loop pedals, MIDI, and a restless curiosity.
Behind her, the fiddles glow like planets tuned to those unique frequencies, infused with both the energy of history and that of Sudan Archives herself. That current flows through the blend of albums and tracks chosen for her Baker’s Dozen, a studied depth that simultaneously builds to dizzying heights, ecstatic moments drawn from international sources. “My music is this huge, almost art pop being right now, but the real thing is a spiritual musician’s perspective and standpoint,” she says. “Sonically things are different and people might think that the violin is less present, but it’s not. It’s just even more experimental and free.”
Sudan Archives’ new album The BPM is out now via Stones Throw. To begin reading her Baker’s Dozen, click ‘First Selection’ below
