SUNN O))) Reveals Amazing Artwork And A Little Music From Kannon

I've been waiting six years for Kannon and it's finally here. It'll be the first Sunn O))) album that isn't a collaboration or a live album- just a classic Sunn O))) album where the band does what it does best. So after six years, what do we all get to look at as the artwork? How about this absolute gem of a piece right here done by Angela Lafont Bolliger.

Here's what she had to say about it.

"I was working on a visual concept inspired by Gian Lorenzo Berninis "Ecstasy of Saint Teresa" (a life-sized Italian baroque sculpture in white marble) and had shared a short description about this project. I took a great interest in the conceptual thought behind the album…

…SUNN O)))'s compositions are minimal but intensely sculptural in depth and detail. This was my inspiration and it was important to me to transcend that idea into the sculpture I would create for the album artwork. Stephen and I both loved the idea that this sculpture could be something really ancient, like a comet – yet also indefinable and timeless…

…I started with an intense research of Guanyin, the imagery, the history, and immersed myself completely into the subject. I then put together a very detailed presentation of ideas… we came to a unanimous decision and went for an idea of "the abstraction of the God of Mercy". It started by sculpting different black reflective materials, which I then combined with ancient rocks and crystals allowing the surface to be rich and to be viewed as something unseen – an undulating form representing Guanyin's many hands and heads..

…Highlights were the creation of the sculpture, different materials with versatile textures and creating a tactile object, a sensuous, meditative process. During the photographic shoot of the sculpture, every glossy highlight and detail was amplified. Rotating the sculpture a completely different form would emerge through the lens. This is what fascinates me in art – creation can surprise and transform."

Oh man, that is gorgeous. The colors, the textures… everything. So why not get even more excited about the album with some music? It's surprisingly not what I expected, but still awesome!