Today marks the release of The Seventh Continent, a new album from the international Sounds of Space Project that offers a unique aural journey to Antarctica. The album features contributions from Dr Nigel Meredith and Kat Turner from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Professor Kim Cunio, Head of the New Zealand School of Music, and Cambridge-based multi-media artist Diana Scarborough.
The Seventh Continent takes listeners inside the BAS's 2023 BIOPOLE mission on the RRS Sir David Attenborough, with a blend of original music and field recordings.
The album captures the diverse sounds of Antarctica, including the rumble of the ship at sea, the echo of an inlet by the world's largest iceberg, the sounds of scientific research in progress, and the calls of local wildlife such as elephant seals and skuas.
The BIOPOLE cruise was the first full, peer-reviewed science mission on the RRS Sir David Attenborough. The ongoing programme aims to understand the link between nutrients in the Southern Ocean and its contribution in cycling and storing carbon – as well as how sensitive these processes are to climate change.
Kat Turner, PhD student in the Polar Oceans Research team at BAS, says:
"I had the chance to be part of an expedition dedicated to expanding our knowledge of Antarctica's marine environment and coastal regions. The ship set off in November 2023, not only resupplying British Antarctic bases but also running key experiments to study the impact of sea ice melt on biology and ocean systems.
Along the way, I recorded the sounds of this extraordinary journey – from the calls of elephant seals to robotic ocean gliders – and the Sounds of Space Project team turned them into the incredible tracks you can hear today. It's been a fantastic experience, and I'm so grateful for this collaboration."
The Seventh Continent offers a fresh, aural perspective on the beauty of the planet's most extreme and isolated continent, and the epic research efforts to understand this remote region.
Dr Nigel Meredith, a space weather researcher at BAS, says:
"This time last year we invited Kat to take a microphone with her on the expedition to the Antarctic to capture the sounds of our seventh continent. She came back with some incredible recordings. Listening to this album is like opening a time capsule of her first experiences of Antarctica - you can almost imagine you are with her on the expedition."
The Seventh Continent is the sixth art-science album from the Sounds of Space Project.
Professor Kim Cunio, who has composed and performed for all of the previous Sounds of Space Project albums, explains:
"We've been working on the Sounds of Space Project for a number of years – but what we have not done yet is to listen to the physical sounds of Antarctica, the place which inspired our project.
My part was easy, play the piano to these sounds, treating them with the care they deserve. I composed a classic ambient soundtrack, reminiscent of artists like Harold Budd and Brian Eno, and I could not be happier with the result."
Artist Diana Scarborough, who developed the album's track artwork, reflects:
"Our new terrestrial inspired album captures the physical reality of Antarctica and the work onboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough as a sound-led experiential journey. Each track, with its melding of unique soundscapes, audio and Kim's compositions provokes a yearning in me to go ice walking in Rothera Research Station, visit Signy, or hear the seals bellowing outside – literally… but virtually is fine too!"
The Seventh Continent is now available on bandcamp and via all the major streaming platforms.
