The Matriarch

A Lament for the Vanishing Arctic

Somewhere in the farthest reaches of the world, the Arctic breathes. A slow, measured inhale of wind and ice, a whisper of a biome that has existed for millennia, holding secrets in its frozen depths. But the breath is fading. The rhythm is breaking. The ice is vanishing.

Few will ever stand on its glaciers, hear the deep silence that stretches beyond sound, or feel the weight of its presence. That silence - both beautiful and terrifying - is what inspired The Matriarch.

When Glitchkase first spoke about the track, it wasn’t just about the Arctic. It was about loss—about places that disappear before we even get the chance to know them. Where they come from is a world apart from the frozen north, a place where the air itself is becoming unbreathable, where the natural landscapes of childhood are being erased by pollution and unchecked destruction. The Arctic, in contrast, became an imagined sanctuary—a place still governed by nature, where ice and water shape the land. But that sanctuary is collapsing too.

Music has a way of holding what words cannot. The Matriarch was built from the Arctic’s own voice - recordings of melting glaciers, frozen lakes cracking under pressure, the slow, deep movement of ice shifting beneath the surface. These sounds, gathered over years of fieldwork, were sculpted into something immersive, layered through granular synthesis and woven with the weight of vast, ambient tones. The result is not just a song - it’s a space. Cold, melancholic, and distant. A presence that absorbs the listener entirely.

To Listen to the full track, go here: TRACK

and to see the full fill Directed by Philip Clemo, go here: FILM

This track is not just about the Arctic. It’s about what we choose to protect.

It’s easy to think of melting ice as something remote, something far from our own lives. But the Arctic is connected to us in ways we rarely acknowledge. It regulates the climate, holds the balance of the oceans, and reflects the pulse of the planet. Its collapse will send ripples across every shore, every city, every breath we take.

We don’t hear the ice cracking until it’s too late.

Maybe, through sound, we can start listening before it’s gone.

with Love..

Glitchkase & The Listening Planet

Credits

Composers: Ritesh Baswal, Joris Vantilborgh

Producers: Glitchkase, Studio Alles, The Listening Planet

Video Director & Producer: Philip Clemo

Executive producers: Glitchkase, Martyn Stewart

🎧 The Matriarch is out now. Let it take you somewhere silent. Let it make you feel.

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