By Trever Hagen

Kali Malone's All Life Long is a profound exploration of sound, blending traditional instrumentation and harmony with contemporary minimalism to create a wholly new affect. Malone’s work with the pipe organ has challenged conventional perceptions of the instrument, inviting listeners into immersive auditory landscapes, such as All Life Long. As she prepares to perform on the Northrop pipe organ, audience patrons can anticipate a compelling experience that bridges historical reverence with avant-garde innovation.

I received a text from a friend a few years back, just before sunrise.

“Hunting deer.”

Along with the message was a link to an unknown album, Kali Malone’s 2018 The Sacrificial Code. Curious to what was the soundtrack of my friend’s November morning in a deer-stand, I pressed play and, as if a film editor was neatly trimming my life’s experiences together, I was transported to the dormant, still, auburn fields of the midwest in which my friend sat, calmly waiting to pull a trigger. In my ears were the slow, beating movements and harmonies a pipe organ, a familiar sound from an unreal place; like gazing and observing a landscape move in sync with the wind. It was — and is — drone music that out-drones the canon of droners.

Malone’s music, which delves into minimalist composition by utilizing instruments like the pipe organ, seems to intuitively straddle a curious position within modern composition: it lies somewhere in-between ritual and self-expression. It comforts me to think about someone holding down those organ keys — not with virtuosic intent but in a therapeutic manner. As if someone is listening and looking out for you. And when All Life Long emerged in February 2024 (culmination of Malone's meticulous compositional process, recorded between 2020 and 2023) featuring collaborations with ensembles such as the Macadam Ensemble and Anima Brass, it evidenced a dimension of Malone’s sonic palette we had not yet heard.

The twelve compositions of Malone’s sixth album All Life Long, traverses various instrumental configurations, from organ-centric pieces to choral and brass arrangements. This diversity showcases Malone's ability to adapt her minimalist aesthetic across and through conventional, known timbres and harmonies to produce music that exposes a forgotten life-pace, grieves a lost sense of narrative, and pleas for contemplation over action. It connects with you like a phone-call telling you someone has passed: it brings you to the fragile present moment, bursting with the truth of what it means to live. And in that same breath of truth the music offers an escape from realities and responsibilities of social attachments; a sonic fetal position.

All Life Long is the sound of air being compressed and pushed through metal pipes into a space where it reverberates, sending waves that wash over one’s ears — the material and matter of the intangible. You are not a spectator from a pew — you are in the chorus, next to the pipes, between the trumpets, with the hot breath of a tenor on your neck. The hollow harmonies offer not comfort but like a welcomed process of judgement; a hungry walk at dawn.

Critics have lauded the album for its depth and emotive power. Pitchfork noted the album's regal quality, emphasizing that Malone is "truly writing for brass ensemble," which in itself feels like a bold move in that brass ensembles are rarely featured in the charts these days. Similarly, the New Yorker highlighted Malone’s singular compositional approach, stating that her music employs "restrictive systems and unique rhythmic patterns, creating an eerily beautiful sound."

And there is no doubt a sense of peace in the music of All Life Long — or more specifically an obvious, proscribed sense of sanctuary that “liturgical” evokes. It is transportive to a pre-digital world where the fastest moving thing was a horse. This music can feel (welcomingly) ancient and strikingly relevant and needed, somehow. As if my ears have been starved for the warm isolation of these timbres; at this moment I am so fortunate that someone living in the 21st century is composing music like this.

Born in Colorado — whose mountains have posed an enduring impression on Malone’s life, hanging in the background of her memories — Kali Malone's musical path has been characterized by a deep exploration of such tonalities, timbres and textures. Her journey into the pipe organ started in Stockholm, Sweden where she moved when she was 18 to study at Stockholm’s Royal Academy of Music. There she began working and doing an apprenticeship with an organist, learning organs are tuned, taken care of and designed.

“This work challenges listeners to engage deeply at a level of observation rather than attention, transforming the organ’s sound and performance into a meditative experience.”

Such knowledge of the affordances of the instrument — from technical, harmonic and expressive but perhaps not performative — has been emblematic of her aesthetic innovation, featuring extended organ pieces that emphasize subtle tonal shifts and sustained harmonics. This work challenges listeners to engage deeply at a level of observation rather than attention, transforming the organ's sound and performance into a meditative experience. Moreover, Malone employs just intonation and unique tuning systems throughout her work that further distinguishes her compositions and illustrates her commitment to evolving the organ's voice in modern composition.

Historically, the organ's grandeur and dynamic range made it a focal point in religious and ceremonial contexts. However, composers like Olivier Messiaen reimagined its potential, integrating unconventional rhythms and harmonies that expanded the instrument's expressive capabilities. Messiaen's work between 1930 and 1952 played a pivotal role in developing the organ as an avant-garde instrument, from where Malone has similarly reimagined the instrument in an equally profound direction.

*Northrop’s historic Aeolian-Skinner Opus 892 organ. Photo: Patrick O’Leary.*

Kali Malone is set to perform All Life Long on the renowned Northrop pipe organ, an event that underscores the significance of her work in contemporary music. The Northrop organ, with its rich history and expansive tonal range, provides an ideal platform for Malone's compositions, allowing audiences to experience the depth and nuance of her music in a live setting. As well, Malone will be joined by brass instrumentalists and vocalists from the University of Minnesota School of Music. This performance and composition not only highlights Malone's innovative use of the organ but also celebrates the instrument's enduring relevance in modern artistry; and likewise, Malone as a composer to lead our ears into new fields of listening attention and experience.