Cipher Productions

One cannot write about Scopophilia without discussing the female condition, as both artists sublimate their own biographies and biologies into sound. Literally, 'scopophilia' means an extreme sense of the male gaze, with the woman bearing nothing but her own sexuality. Yes, this album is a fractured autobiographical rendering on the inherently fraught situation of being a woman; but more so, it is a raw production of power electronics, industrial decadence, and provocative discipline.

Although leading different lives in separate countries, Harriet Kate Morgan (Military Position) and Ester Kärkkäinen (Himukalt) share a number of similar influences: SPK, Atrax Morgue, Brainbombs, Lustmord, Vatican Shadow. Their respective solo work is largely industrial and can be quite minimal in comparison to Scopophilia. in the album's dark techno rhythms - heard on tracks such as "i would die for you" and "she . her . myself. and i" - Scopophilia create a unique and completely different sound altogether from their solo work. these tracks are lurid, sensual, intimate, and violent all at once, stirring visual images and narrative fragments through the noise. both Morgan and Kärkkäinen have past experiences as sex workers, and they believe this album could be their own private soundtrack to a strip club or a dungeon. The album is more than a synthesis of the bruised noise from Military Position and postmortem electronics from Himukalt, through an uncanny communion of misery, mania, sexual addiction, innate trauma, the loss of self, the aftermath of abuse or controlling situations, the horror of being in a female body and the subsequent feelings of entrapment this brings. The record has an element of complete sadness and abandonment but also embodies some sort of empowerment - a moving forward, a sense of revenge.

Old Europa Cafe, 2021/2024. Highly recommended.