A groundbreaking EP project as much for the sonic output as it is for the creative input, Norrisette’s ‘Human’ isn’t actually wholly conceived by who the title suggests. Involving collaboration with Artificial Intelligence and covering genres from techno house to more soft and supple singer-songwriter elements, it’s a deeply diverse musical endeavour that should be lauded for its experimental effort as much as it should for the staggeringly creative confluence that simply screams eccentrics and flourish.
It starts with a mesmerizingly ethereal falsetto backed by a rather minimalist piano backing on ‘The Half Of It’. A straightforward ballad that carries an air of beauty through a vocal performance that entirely captures your deepest feelings through a melodic and swooning arrangement. On ‘Human’ there’s more aggressive and glaring electronic production, giving a heavier and dreary feeling that contrasts the angelic vocals and piano.
Perhaps most interestingly, for this EP Norrisette collaborated with ‘not-Norrisette’, an Artificial Intelligence software program that was engineered by Christopher Melen at the Royal Northern College of Music Centre for Performance and Research in Science and Music. Not-Norrisette was actually trained on Norrisette’s music and sings her own version. Throughout the EP, Norrisette uses the output of these files as samples while adding her own vocals, giving the resulting album a feeling as though its continually in a duet. The repeated chorus of ‘I’m human’ starts to feel beautiful and then slightly unsettling as it moves forward. ‘Reservoir’ is more supple, a minimalist song-writer focused piece that allows Norrisette’s vocals and lyricism complete control. ‘Whale House’ is starkly different from the rest of the record, a futuristic and metallic piece of experimental electronic and glitch, it sounds like a trance record amidst an otherwise folktronica album.
‘Human’ is a magical record that will leave you bewildered and entranced at equal measure. The titular track in particular is mesmerizingly beautiful, an ethereal and transcendental piece that captivates your core unlike any other.