Bethany Ley Shapes Digital Gardens with 'Sundial'

Bethany Ley crafts sonic landscapes that feel less like compositions and more like ecosystems. Her Sundial EP (released via Lo Recordings last May) weaves together threads that might seem disparate at first glance—through five meticulously crafted tracks, the Bristol-based composer and producer maps territories where processed harp fragments dance with Gamelan echoes, where field recordings from the Ganges River are imprinted onto the fabric of carefully constructed digital spaces. This Sundial serves as a musical chronometer, marking time not through shadows cast by sunlight but through the circular relationships between sounds.

Ley's compositions have expansive architecture, built upon influences like Debussy's harmonic innovations and Aphex Twin's sonic deconstructions. Her background as a classical viola and piano player introduces an orchestral sensibility. Ley places each sound within a larger harmonic framework, yet the pieces can evolve and mutate as they unfold. This marriage of rigorous musical training and experimental sound design creates environments that feel precisely engineered and organically alive, like crystalline structures growing in some newly discovered garden.

In our conversation, Ley moves effortlessly between discussing the specifics of song arrangements and contemplating the "divine feeling of accepting the impermanence of everything," embodying the kind of artist who recognizes no meaningful distinction between technical mastery and deep, interior exploration.

Michael Donaldson: The sound of your music is spacious and quite intricate. I get the impression that listening is very important for you. How do you listen, and how does it affect your work and life?

Bethany Ley: I am incredibly sensitive to sound, so sometimes it's quite hard to detach from sounds in a loud world. I enjoy seeking silence and spaciousness. Generally, I listen quite melodically to things, maybe from an upbringing in classical and orchestral/choral spaces. Often, I feel very moved by harmony in this way. I also enjoy hearing the different tones in everyday life, such as different speaking voices.

Michael: The influence of India and the harp, especially in a spiritual combination, brings to mind Alice Coltrane. Is Alice Coltrane meaningful to you? Does this extend beyond musically? Are there other musical artists who have shaped your mindset beyond musical influence?

Bethany: I connected with Alice Coltrane's album Journey in Satchidananda when I first heard it. All the resonances and sounds meld into one another—I often see sound as shape or spaces, and it feels like it belongs to a particular landscape. As a harpist, it was also great to hear different ways the harp can be played, but I discovered her music after I was already a bit older and further into my journey with the harp.

I connect with artists whose work has a lore or vast aesthetic attached. Their work inspires me to be transported by a cross-pollination of senses.

Michael: Music from Bristol is a widespread force, though I don't think the city is as internationally recognized as a "music city" as much as others in the UK. Can you set the scene in Bristol for our readers?

Bethany: Bristol is so vibrant. It's like a huge puzzle with many interlocking scenes and explorations, and everyone here feels connected and motivated by what others are creating.

I feel like my place in Bristol has evolved. When I first moved here, I spent much time improvising live and collaborating. There have been many poignant music nights at The Gallimaufry alongside many musicians I'm happy to call friends, such as Waldo's Gift, Snazzback, and t l k. These experiences fueled me massively from the start.

Deep down, though, I have always been a bit more on the producer and composer side than performing, so embracing this more fully and stepping into myself is ever-turning. I also love electronic-based and experimental performance nights, which has influenced me. Many amazing musicians push the boundaries, melding performance with production in Bristol like Sarahsson, Grove, EJ:AKIN, and BIPED. I think Bristol gives space and community to breathe into projects.

Michael: The press release describes you as a "world-crafting producer." What is that world like?

Bethany: I feel like the world I want to create is a series of landscapes or structures that can be explored microscopically or macroscopically. At the moment, this sonic world felt a bit like a journey through what I like to imagine as some kind of video game where it's moving forward, although not quite linear in the usual way. Still, it feels explorative and expansive as you walk into new areas. I'd also maybe describe it as interlocking patterns of light and dark.

Michael: When I listen to Sundial from beginning to end, its five tracks tell a story. I assume this is very much intentional, especially as the last track's title, "Acceptance," implies a closure—as does the song itself.

Bethany: It started with many more songs or "landscapes" than this, and I condensed and combined sounds to reduce it to just five songs. I like that there are five tracks, as this number feels satisfying. I feel like the first two possess different energy from the last two, and the middle track, "Fruits," is almost the turning point where things slow down and are still.

"Acceptance" is the synth line extracted from "Glass Bonding" and reframed as a track in its own right. I loved the synth line, but it is quite far back in the mix in "Glass Bonding," which feels quite reactive and emotional. The same synth line in "Acceptance" felt good to me. It's linked to a personal moment of love and the uncomfortable yet divine feeling of accepting the impermanence of everything. It feels very much like an open-ended closure to this body of work.

Michael: Most of the songs on the EP don't have beats, but when rhythms appear, they're especially evocative. How do you decide whether a song should have percussive elements or not?

Bethany: I love to imply rhythm through harmonic movement and production techniques or musically in melody, basslines, and vocal samples. I quite enjoy making more soft interlocking patterns and more obvious ones. I think this EP also ended up orbiting themes of cycles, renewal, and, in some ways, reflection, so having these gentler moments to sit inside felt quite organic.

Some of the songs have sounds I have designed and locked in with beats to create something more constructional, like the rhythms being a blueprint from which the tracks would grow. I guess these feel a bit more solid. It's interesting to make something that sounds alive or like lots of small but necessary mechanical parts interacting with each other.

Knowing when there is space for more overt beats feels intuitive, as this can significantly change the sound, making it feel right or not.