This week’s PBS Feature Album is Hiriketiya, the upcoming release from multi-instrumentalist Alex Albrecht.
Hiriketiya is a small, enclosed bay on Sri Lanka’s southern coast, where jungle leans toward the water and the days unfold without urgency. Stopping by in 2025 on the way to Europe, Alex Albrecht spent a week here at MOND’s artist residency, recording and exchanging ideas with Sri Lankan musicians Dhyan Basho on sitar, Dinelka Liyanage on electronics, Uvindu Perera on double bass and Pasindu Herath on saxophone. Their performances appear throughout the album, sampled and re-contextualised, influencing its melodic language, pacing and tone.
Much of the music was shaped directly by its surroundings. This included rocks beside the ocean where waves set irregular rhythms, tall grasslands where wind and insects bled into the recordings and open decks overlooking the sea. 'Round Table' captures the moment sitting together overlooking the ocean, a large steel table in front of the group gradually became part of the composition, used instinctively as an unplanned percussive element.
The album gathers fragments, recordings, electronic sketches and field sounds, assembling them into a continuous listening experience shaped by place and recollection. MOND owners Jess and Renato foster an environment that supports artists without directing them, creating space for focus, trust and connection. The result is a record shaped by Hiriketiya’s enclosed bay, dense vegetation, heat and night air. Music formed through listening, restraint and the sensation of being temporarily held by a place.
Tune in all this week to hear tracks from Hiriketiya. PBS Members have the chance to win a vinyl copy of the album - simply email your name and membership number to before midnight Sunday May 10.
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TOP TRACKS WE'RE LOVING THIS WEEK
Screensaver - 'Division'
Krakatau - 'Birds of Passage'
Kuzco - 'Waaalk'
Nice Girl - 'Express'
Yaya Bey - 'Forty Days'
Alex Macfarlane - 'Gleams & Louring'
Jamie Woon - 'Ghost' (Batu remix)
Fancy Weapon - 'Squirmin' Merman'
Billiam - 'Where Is Jackson Reid Briggs?'
Divers - 'Head Chef'
