We’ve been here before. Matthew Sullivan’s Red
Boiling Springs project tackled the difficulties of parenthood on the first
“Paternal,” but he certainly wasn’t done, and who can blame him? The first “Paternal”
focused on the events surrounding the birth of his daughter, and contained
samples of in utero sounds. “Paternal II” follows the events of the birth of
his son two years later, which also included a medical emergency. The Sullivans
were clearly unlucky.
But it’s so great to hear these sounds, these
heartbeats, the field recordings of a living child. Of course, this being a Red
Boiling Springs tape and all, those sounds get processed until they’re heaving
fog banks of intense noise and static, mirroring the angst of the whole
process. And honestly, why would you do anything differently? It worked the
first time, let’s try it again. The Sullivan kids will each have an incredible
keepsake documenting their life before birth.
--Ryan
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