By Keith Walsh
“A Storm Called Ida” is first single from Martin Bisi’s album Feral Myths, and it documents the horror that New Yorkers experienced when their region was ravished by Hurricane Ida in 2021. Apart from Bisi’s fascination with deities on previous works, the name Ida inspired him to create this powerful tune.
Bisi tells me: “The name ‘Ida’ struck me as like a Grecian deity. So that’s why I was interested in doing a song about Ida….because there’s a part of me that likes Greek Theater.”
Bisi was raised in New York by Argentinian-born parents who took him to the opera as a child. “And I thought at the time that I didn’t like opera,” Bisi told me. “Yet here we are.” Indeed, Sara Fantry’s vocals on the song are operatic, recorded with the rest of the song at Bisi’s historic BC Studio in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, New York.
Fantry’s vocals dramatize not only the despair caused by the storm but the strength of the people’s response to the hurricane. Bisi’s vocals, which are close to something by Lou Reed, carry the pop style melody, in an indie-rock way. Bisi, who is a studio whiz combining effects and gear acquired across decades and including the cavernous reverb of his studio, told me: “There’s a 10 second delay on some of Sarah’s vocals …there’s like a 10 second delay on the freaking thing.”
The video for “A Storm Called Ida” captures the spirt of the protests against the heartless agenda that denies the climate change that has led to the cause of the hurricane, with video of protestors in New York. Bisi recorded the tune and the accompanying album in his historic BC Studio which was originally funded by Brian Eno, where parts of Eno’s No Land was recorded. BC Studio has hosted Swans, Sonic Youth, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, The Dresden Dolls, White Zombie, Violent Femmes, and many others.
Feral Myths releases on Dec 2.
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