Miguel Noya – Biofonía II: Voces de la Tierra Review

What does Miguel Noya sound like?

Field recordings that tune into the quietest parts of the world around us.

The review of ‘Biofonía II: Voces de la Tierra’ by Miguel Noya

Full disclosure: I am well outside my usual wheelhouse with Miguel Noya’s works, but the world works in mysterious ways sometimes. Yesterday, I fell over in spectacular fashion. My arms, elbows, knees, and chest look like they’ve been attacked by a cheese grater. I couldn’t sleep as I was sore and bloody. In an effort to lull myself to sleep, I popped on some headphones and went looking for some nighttime field sounds of forest, jungle, and animal sounds. What I found was Miguel Noya.

‘Biofonía II: Voces de la Tierra’ is Noya’s latest album, his first in five years. It is a collection of field recordings taken from his homeland in Venezuela. There is 90 minutes of sound, ranging from bird songs to frog chirps, waterfalls, streams, nighttime crickets, rainforest ambience, and mountain range weather. Miguel Noya seems to be cataloguing different animals and landscapes, finding their voice, and then using the recordings to create a version of nature’s choir. I’m not sure what is a true field recording and what has been processed, since some tracks have a synth tonality to them, but the sound range is wide and varied.

Beyond the rustic world, the tiny animals, and the 24-hour, always-on sound of nature, it feels like we’re on a trek. Noya switches out different landscapes and their animals across 25 tracks, which name the animals or landscapes recorded. I feel like I’ve had a quick tour around the rainforests and mountains of Venezuela. There is a pang of sadness to the recordings, as the area is battling human-made disaster and ecological destruction. I wonder how many of these sounds will still be in the wild in the centuries to come?

Regardless, ‘Biofonía II: Voces de la Tierra’ rested my mind, soothed my soul, and brought me a little closer to nature whilst lying in bed at night. It is impossible to review something like this because the medium is listening and attuning to Earth itself. Instead, I’ll simply say that if you enjoy varied nature sounds that take you around different landscapes and regions, Miguel Noya’s latest album may well keep you company and bring you joy.

Recommended track: Conoto, Guacharacas, Pericos

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