Soviet Utopias; The Ninth nuclear city of Pripyat’ was the title to a personal investigation about a town that has been largely forgotten by history; Pripyat.

Located in the Northern Ukraine, Pripyat was situated just next to the city of Chernobyl and served as the second largest municipal to accommodate power plant workers and scientists of the former Soviet Union. Then one fateful event changed the lives of these 50,000 individuals, leaving the entire nuclear city and its landmarks vacant.

Crosspolar, himself originally hailing from a former Soviet state, explores this topic sonically on 51.2763° N, 30.2219° through the aid of FM-transmitters and receivers, furthermore he re-recorded audio in physical locations to imprint the sonic characteristic and traits of the former nuclear city.

The conceptual framework of the album was conceived from a series of documented interviews, all held former Pripyat residents, recorded by the label with the consent of each participant.

The outcome sees Crosspolar reflect on the subject matter through a sonic palette that fittingly recalls both, utopian futurism and dystopian void. Themes of decay and desolation are as present as moments of emotional reconciliation and monumental grandeur.

In the end the album forms the basis for a cultural sound exchange, an experiment that prompts the question; in what ways can we re-approach history through a sonic lens?

While these pieces remain personal insights, they can also act as conduits to raise awareness about the subject matter, further acting as a basis for exploring our collective obsession with the past and how we choose to remember it.

Soviet Utopias; The Ninth nuclear city of Pripyat’ was the title to a personal investigation about a town that has been largely forgotten by history; Pripyat.

Located in the Northern Ukraine, Pripyat was situated just next to the city of Chernobyl and served as the second largest municipal to accommodate power plant workers and scientists of the former Soviet Union. Then one fateful event changed the lives of these 50,000 individuals, leaving the entire nuclear city and its landmarks vacant.

Crosspolar, himself originally hailing from a former Soviet state, explores this topic sonically on 51.2763° N, 30.2219° through the aid of FM-transmitters and receivers, furthermore he re-recorded audio in physical locations to imprint the sonic characteristic and traits of the former nuclear city.

The conceptual framework of the album was conceived from a series of documented interviews, all held former Pripyat residents, recorded by the label with the consent of each participant.

The outcome sees Crosspolar reflect on the subject matter through a sonic palette that fittingly recalls both, utopian futurism and dystopian void. Themes of decay and desolation are as present as moments of emotional reconciliation and monumental grandeur.

In the end the album forms the basis for a cultural sound exchange, an experiment that prompts the question; in what ways can we re-approach history through a sonic lens?

While these pieces remain personal insights, they can also act as conduits to raise awareness about the subject matter, further acting as a basis for exploring our collective obsession with the past and how we choose to remember it.