A child picks up an instrument, an uncle teaches him, and a mother weaves the stories in and around the music. When the child turns 17 years old, he performs with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and changes the landscape of Australian music. Over 20 years later, William Barton is still pushing at the edges of all musical traditions. His goal is ‘to take the oldest culture in the world and blend it with Europe’s rich musical legacy’. In this latest album Heartland, you can feel not just the history but the melding of musical cultures: Western, Aboriginal, contemporary, electronic, even moments of charged silence. All these cultures are part of the building blocks of this music.

Interspersed throughout are moments of poetry, written by Barton’s mother Aunty Delmae Barton. The way voices are used on this record is striking; the crisp consonants of the words and the wordless singing beautifully complement the sound of the didgeridoo, violin, guitar and various percussive instruments.

Central to this sound world is Véronique Serret and her ethereal violin. On her artist website, Serret states, ‘I don’t only want to play other people’s music. That definitely informs what I do but I love what I have to say with my instruments, which is basically an extension of me.’ Serret has performed with everyone from Jónsi to Ensemble Offspring to Sarah Blasko, and she was also the concertmaster of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra. You can feel the history of her music-making on this semi-improvised recording – her use of improvisational electronic loops brings a sense of familiarity to the music, while the control and beauty in her tone make it feel fresh. The impressive use of extended techniques is what creates the soundscape you hear; they are not simply there to be inserted into the music. It’s an organic way of creating music and it’s beautiful.

Kate Rockstrom is a friend of Readings.