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Galya Bisengalieva               composer ✧ producer ✧ violinist
Upcoming         

POLYGON REFLECTIONS OUT 29.08.25



Coordinates 50°07′N 78°43′E
Test Site Area ∼ 18,500 km²

Foundation Date - August 21, 1947
Closure Date - October 21, 1991

First Test - August 29, 1949
Last Test - October 19, 1989

Tests - 456

Underground - 340
In the atmosphere - 116

On the steppe in northeast Kazakhstan, the Semipalatinsk Test Site, known as ‘the Polygon’, was once home to nearly a quarter of the world’s nuclear testing.

The vast and flat landscape, the kind of place often misleadingly described as “uninhabited”, provided anonymity and isolation for the former Soviet Union leaders. However the steppe was also home to a delicate and thriving ecosystem made up of mountains, hills and pine forests running along the river Irtysh.

The region held a sacred meaning to Kazakhs. The birthplace of intellectual literature and culture, famous for its musicians, poets and writers.

For the inhabitants, the 465 nuclear tests conducted during its existence had dire consequences on an ancient landscape that supported traditional pasturelands with little regard for their effect on the local people or the environment, leading to devastating long-term impacts.

Now expanded by visionary remixes from The Bug, Hatis Noit, KMRU, Aïsha Devi, Hinako Omori, Lucy Liyou, Balkhash Dreaming and Alva Noto, "Polygon Reflections" bridges past and future through music that resonates far beyond borders.

TRACKS

Alash-Kala (The Bug Reflection)
Saryzhal (Hatis Noit Refelction)
Saryzhal (KMRU Reflection)
Polygon (Балхаш снится Reflection)
Sary-Uzen (Lucy Liyou Reflection)
Chagan (Aïsha Devi Reflection)
Balapan (Hinako Omori Reflection)
Sary-Uzen & Degelen (Alva Noto Reflection)
Degelen (Kevin Richard Martin Reflection) [DIGITAL ONLY]





CHAGAN (AÏSHA DEVI REFLECTION) LISTEN HERE

BALAPAN (HINAKO OMORI REFLECTION) LISTEN HERE



POLYGON REFLECTIONS ALBUM PRE-ORDER  HERE
Featured Work         

POLYGON OUT NOW ON DIGITAL, CD AND VINYL



Coordinates 50°07′N 78°43′E
Test Site Area ∼ 18,500 km²

Foundation Date - August 21, 1947
Closure Date - October 21, 1991

First Test - August 29, 1949
Last Test - October 19, 1989

Tests - 456

Underground - 340
In the atmosphere - 116


On the steppe in northeast Kazakhstan, the Semipalatinsk Test Site, known as ‘the Polygon’, was once home to nearly a quarter of the world’s nuclear testing.

The vast and flat landscape, the kind of place often misleadingly described as “uninhabited”, provided anonymity and isolation for the former Soviet Union leaders. However the steppe was also home to a delicate and thriving ecosystem made up of mountains, hills and pine forests running along the river Irtysh.

The region held a sacred meaning to Kazakhs. The birthplace of intellectual literature and culture, famous for its musicians, poets and writers.

For the inhabitants, the 465 nuclear tests conducted during its existence had dire consequences on an ancient landscape that supported traditional pasturelands with little regard for their effect on the local people or the environment, leading to devastating long-term impacts.

In 1989 one of the first major anti-nuclear movements “Nevada Semipalatinsk” was formed. It was spearheaded by author Olzhas Suleimenov and attracted thousands of people to its protests and campaigns which eventually led to the closure of the site in 1991.

TRACKS

Alash-kala
Saryzhal
Polygon
Sary-Uzen
Chagan
Balapan
Degelen

ALL TRACKS COMPOSED AND PERFORMED BY GALYA BISENGALIEVA

PUBLISHED BY ONE LITTLE INDEPENDENT RECORDS
RECORDED AT NOMAD MUSIC PRODUCTIONS
PRODUCED BY GALYA BISENGALIEVA, ROBERT AMES, BEN CORRIGAN
MIXED BY OLGA FITZROY AT AIR MANAGEMENT
MASTERED BY DENIS BLACKHAM AT SKYE MASTERING
VINYL CUT BY CHRISTIAN WRIGHT AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS

DESIGN BY SHREY KATHURIA
IMAGERY BY PHILIP HATCHER-MOORE






SARYZHAL SINGLE LISTEN HERE
ALASH-KALA SINGLE LISTEN HERE
BALAPAN SINGLE LISTEN HERE



POLYGON ALBUM ORDER HERE

ARALKUM OUT NOW ON DIGITAL, CD AND VINYL



THE SHRINKING OF THE ARAL SEA HAS BEEN CALLED ONE OF THE WORST ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS ON THE PLANET.

SITUATED IN CENTRAL ASIA, IT WAS ONCE THE FOURTH LARGEST LAKE IN THE WORLD, BUT THE RIVERS THAT FED THE ARAL WERE DIVERTED BY SOVIET IRRIGATION PROJECTS FROM THE 1960S. IT HAS BEEN DISAPPEARING EVER SINCE.

BY 1997, IT HAD DIMINISHED TO TEN PERCENT OF ITS ORIGINAL SIZE, AND SATELLITE IMAGES CAPTURED BY NASA IN AUGUST OF 2014 REVEALED THAT – FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MODERN HISTORY – THE EASTERN BASIN OF THE ARAL SEA HAD DRIED UP COMPLETELY, A REGION NOW KNOWN AS THE ARALKUM DESERT.

AS THE ARAL SEA DRIED UP, FISHERIES AND THE COMMUNITIES THAT DEPENDED ON THEM COLLAPSED. THE INCREASINGLY SALTY WATER BECAME POLLUTED WITH FERTILISERS AND PESTICIDES. THE DUST BLOWING FROM THE EXPOSED LAKEBED, CONTAMINATED WITH AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS, BECAME A PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD. THE SALTY DUST BLEW OFF THE LAKEBED AND SETTLED ONTO FIELDS, DEGRADING THE SOIL. CROPLANDS WERE FLUSHED WITH INCREASINGLY LARGER VOLUMES OF RIVER WATER. THE LOSS OF THE MITIGATING INFLUENCE OF SUCH A LARGE BODY OF WATER MADE WINTERS COLDER, AND SUMMERS HOTTER AND DRIER.

IN A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE THE LAKE, KAZAKHSTAN CONSTRUCTED THE KOKARAL DAM, SEPARATING THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN PARTS. THE DAM, SPANNING ACROSS 12 KILOMETRES, SEPARATES THE TWO BODIES OF WATER AND PREVENTS A DOWNWARD OUTFLOW. THANKS TO THE KOKARAL, FISHERIES IN THE NORTH HAVE REBOUNDED, IN SPITE OF IT LIMITING THE FLOW INTO THE SOUTH. WATER LEVELS RECOVERED NOTABLY BETWEEN 2005 AND 2006, WITH MINUTE IMPROVEMENTS RECORDED THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE TIME PERIOD.

THE ALBUM IS SPLIT INTO THREE PARTS:
PRE-DISASTER, CALAMITY, FUTURE.

COMPOSED AND PERFORMED BY GALYA BISENGALIEVA

RECORDED AT NOMAD MUSIC PRODUCTIONS
PRODUCED BY ROBERT AMES, BEN CORRIGAN
MIXED BY ROBERT SOMA-LEWIS AT AMBIENT WORKS
MASTERED BY DENIS BLACKHAM

DESIGN BY XIAOFEISTUDIO
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY NASA



BARSA-KELMES SINGLE LISTEN HERE
KANTUBEK SINGLE LISTEN HERE
1ST EDITION VINYL (SOLD OUT)
LIMITED EDITION GREEN VINYL ORDER HERE

EP ONE OUT NOW ON DIGITAL AND LIMITED EDITION VINYL


                                        TRACKS

Tùs
Claire M Singer

Tulpar
Galya Bisengalieva

Oparin
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch

Recorded at Spitfire Audio, London
Engineers: Harry Wilson & Simon Hendry
Assistant Engineer: Henry Cornish
All tracks mastered by Denis Blackham

Photography: Nicol Vizioli
Design: Baxter and Bailey



TULPAR
Composed by Galya Bisengalieva 

Directed by Nicol Vizioli
Cinematographer: Andrew Rodger
Editor: Laura Delle Piane

LIMITED EDITION VINYL PURCHASE HERE