The Heat of the Sun is based on a 1962 science fiction novel by J. G. Ballard called The Drowned World, which follows a group of environmental scientists in tropical London on an Earth overheated by solar storms. Ballard’s scientists go through deep psychological and physical changes brought on by radiation, and though there is profound pessimism in the depiction of societal and environmental catastrophe, there is also a bizarre sense of possibility found in transformations that open up new experiences of an altered consciousness.

Some of these pieces are like sound environments in continuous transformation (Tidal), while others reflect human experiences adapting to those environments (Radio Lung). They express a shifting sense of perception through malleable tonality, acoustic sounds stretched and replaced by electronics, sci-fi visions, lo-fi glitches, and a recording of trash.

Some of this music comes from a collaboration with Maisie O’Brien, who makes beautiful paper cuttings about the relationships between people and nature.