Oceans on Azimuth by Lola de la Mata

In both work and leisure, we find ourselves subjected to increasing levels of noise, from highway noise to train brakes, from industrial fans to jackhammers, from music festivals to overpowered earbuds. An increasingly common byproduct of this sound, tinnitus, wreaks havoc on many people’s ability to produce or enjoy music, but experimental artist Lola de la Mata turned her own symptoms into auditory art on her new album Oceans on Azimuth. The album reproduces the patient’s experience with tinnitus, which manifests as ringing, roaring, or other background noise in the ear, especially in the lack of incoming sound from the real world. As a result, silence for those with tinnitus quickly fills with a cacophony of discordant sounds, represented on the album with a seemingly random blend of improvised, industrial noise makers and theramins. By letting us into her anxiety-inducing, silence-free reality, Lola de la Mata takes control back from her condition, using it to show us how an increasing number of us see the world.