# Kali Malone’s new album pairs Leipzig’s Bach organ with cello and guitar

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/kali-malone-burning-song-review-drone-composer-wields-bachs-organ-to-breathtaking-effect/
- Published: 2026-10-30T08:30:48+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T08:47:28+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/oct/30/kali-malone-burning-song-review
- Topics: Americas, Art, Culture, Entertainment, Music, World

## Key points

- Malone takes a shorter, more emotionally direct approach to drone.
- The 40-minute album features organ, cello and bowed guitar.
- “Map the Path” is described as strikingly direct.

## Summary

Kali Malone’s *Burning Song* marks a more compact and emotionally direct turn for the US drone composer, whose reputation rests on much longer pieces. Recorded with Lucy Railton on cello and Stephen O’Malley on bowed acoustic guitar, the album uses the Bach organ at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, where Bach worked for the final 27 years of his life. The shift matters because Malone sets aside her usual contrapuntal methods while retaining the sombre, patient character of her music.

Across 40 minutes, the trio’s closely blended sounds combine sustained tones, crackle, breath and scraping textures. “Grieving Figure” moves from a distant, horn-like note towards a bright finish; “Bells on a Branch” shifts from a buzzing texture to a dry ending, while Railton’s cello adds tension to “Crawling Ashore”. The review singles out “Map the Path” as unusually direct and solemn, while stressing that the album avoids a grand, sentimental emotional gesture.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.