Sonus Lucis — The Beacon Project Vol. I

When I was a young lad, I bought a second-hand radio. It was quite large and had several wave bands on it, including short waves. These short wave bands had a variety of really interesting signals from all over the world but I began to notice that some were repeating the same things over and over. I didn't understand at first, but then I came to recognise them as radio station interval signals. The broadcasters would transmit these signals to 'keep' the frequencies. Otherwise, they bore the risk of other stations taking their place.

I have fond memories of many interval signals. The Beacon Project Vol. I is meant to emulate fictional ones, all with made sounds. Any tones you hear, jingles, morse code, interference and fading is all created artificially.

There's a real nostalgia in these sounds for me — the gentle hiss, the looping tones, the sense of something distant and half-understood drifting through the static. Some of these pieces lean into that feeling deliberately and can be surprisingly calming to listen to. Numbers Station, with its steady, repetitive voice reading out what sounds like random digits (though it's actually a coded message), has an almost hypnotic, meditative quality. The End Of Radio carries a gentle chime that lingers — a quiet, comforting note amid the static.