Julia Kent

New York City, USA

The Gyres

AmbientInstrumental

Behind the Music

For me, the ocean has always represented possibility and adventure, but also mystery and menace. It's a vast environment without boundaries, where lawlessness can flourish without oversight or consequence. The stories from The Outlaw Ocean are shocking in the way they bear witness to the way human beings exploit one another and the ecosystem. 

I hope that my music can add another dimension to an already powerful narrative, and create an atmosphere that complements the drama and tragedy of these stories. The synergistic nature of this project — fusing music with journalism and ambient sounds — will highlight the brutality that occurs on the high seas. I believe that music can create its own emotional narrative that reinforces and complements the written one, expressing a kind of truth that transcends language and presenting these harrowing events in a new and powerful way. 

Julia Kent
About Julia Kent

Canadian-born, New York City-based cellist and composer Julia Kent makes music using layered and processed cello, electronics and field recordings, creating haunting and evocative soundscapes that range from hushed intimacy to cinematic expansiveness. She has released five solo records, most recently on UK label, Leaf, and has toured throughout North America and Europe.​ She also composes music for film, theatre, dance and television.

Winner of the 2021 Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in Innovation in Journalism

The Journalism behind the Music

All music in this project is based on The Outlaw Ocean, a New York Times Best-Selling book by Ian Urbina that chronicles lawlessness at sea around the world. This reporting touches on a diversity of abuses ranging from illegal and overfishing, arms trafficking at sea, human slavery, gun running, intentional dumping, murder of stowaways, thievery of ships and other topics.

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