Most know Mark Coles Smith as an actor – the proud Nyikina man who began his career in TV aged 14 and, 19 years later, has acted in the likes of Blue Heelers, The Circuit and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Next year, he’ll appear in a new season of Mystery Road as a younger version of Aaron Pedersen’s gritty detective Jay Swann.
But Coles Smith is also the sound artist and electronic musician Kalaji, who gave his first performance “Night River” at Melbourne’s Yirramboi arts festival in 2019. Expanding on that performance is the new album ‘Kalaji’, an atmospheric, expansive adventure in synths, instrumentals, field recordings, and treated vocals – and a meditation on themes of intergenerational wisdom and memory.
Produced on Country in the North of Western Australia, ‘Kalaji’ is informed by ancestral knowledge, spiritual and emotional connection to the land and the seasons. Field recordings of birds, the crunch of leaves, and the winds blowing herald the beginning of many tracks and intermingle with the instrumental arrangements throughout. The mythical meets modern dance beats on ‘Kalaji’, bringing to mind Sigur Rós’ synthesis of lush classical string arrangements and sweeping synths.
While Sigur Rós explored the particular climate and landscapes of Iceland – both real and folkloric – ‘Kalaji’ is a journey into the Martuwarra, or Fitzroy River, landscape of Western Australia. ‘Majala’ is ambient chillout with hum-along melodies and upbeat lyrics that talk of love, sunrises and horizons. On ‘Ingidi’, the field recordings are given space to breathe, and the acoustic strings come to the fore. It is gloriously transportive.
The Martuwarra area of Western Australia, in the Western region of the Kimberley, exists between the Indian Ocean, the Timor Sea, and to its south, the Pilbara region including the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts. The Nyikina were among the first people to reside along the river with generations going back over 40,000 years, along with the Walmajarri and Gooniyandi people. The river and its catchments are sacred places, and throughout ‘Kalaji’ there is an ebb and flow of energy within and between tracks that rewards listeners who play the album from start to finish.
Artist and Nyikina Walmajarri Traditional Custodian Edwin Mulligan speaks on ‘Yoolbooroo’, his voice rich with love for Country. Segueing from his poignant remarks on the land (“people of this generation are continuing to dream Country… Country is very powerful”) to Coles Smith’s fluid tones invokes the idea of a primordial clock ticking.
Tracks like ‘Janara’ are epic in scope, their Vangelis-style brassy synths, clashing symbols and victorious drumbeats like the thunder of heels mid-dance. There is a sense of majesty evoked here, the breathtaking landscape of the Kimberley appearing in the mind’s eye – chasms, gorges, multi-hued ancient rocks and cliffs, earth strewn with stringybark eucalyptus, mangroves and monsoon forests. Recorded at Wawili Sound Studios in Broome, ‘Kalaji’ is rich with a variety of live instrumentation, including the resonant, vibrantly dynamic acoustic guitar on ‘Walka’. Elsewhere acoustic harp is provided by Timbre Cierpke and banjo by Harry Jakamarra.
As an actor, Coles Smith is a master of embodying fictional characters, but here on ‘Kalaji’, there is a great, authentic beauty in his invocation to the sacred land of the Kimberley region.
