Holly Herndon

Frontier

Proto (2019)

"Frontier" by Holly Herndon is a standout track from her 2019 album PROTO, recognized for its groundbreaking fusion of experimental electronic music, choral tradition, and artificial intelligence. The piece is both a sonic exploration and a conceptual statement, merging deep-rooted vocal practices with cutting-edge technology.

Musical Style and Influences

• Sacred Harp Singing: Herndon drew direct inspiration from the American folk tradition of Sacred Harp singing—a communal style of shape-note singing characterized by raw, powerful choruses that often gather singers in a square formation facing inward. Herndon attended an international Sacred Harp Meetup in Berlin, which profoundly impacted her, especially the communal and emotional resonance of the voices. She worked with collaborator Evelyn Saylor to reflect this tradition authentically in "Frontier".
• AI Collaboration: Like much of PROTO, "Frontier" was developed in dialogue with a custom AI neural network named Spawn, representing Herndon's vision of a new kind of musical ensemble—human and machine, learning, responding, and creating together.
• Sound and Structure: The song begins with a chorus of voices, at first unadorned and almost primal, then manipulated and eventually overtaken by sparse, "hiccuping" beats and dense, propulsive electronic textures. This evolving arrangement evokes both ancient ritual and futuristic possibility.

Lyrics and Themes

• Survival and Transformation: The lyrics, delivered in insistent, incantatory layers, reference letting go of obsolete systems ("their world is long gone"), crossing thresholds ("a frontier of green or of dust"), and urgent action ("move fast, stay low, be the first for they all know").
• Warnings and New Paths: Many critics and listeners interpret the song as a rallying cry for climate and cultural survival—a warning about the consequences of inaction and a call to embrace new ways of being, whether "a leap or push, a path of love or of blood"9. There is a tension between nostalgia for past communal bonds and a determination to break from the past into uncharted territory.
• A central lyric—"This earth doesn't care for what we need, what we breathe / A frontier of green or of dust"—encapsulates the existential stakes and choices ahead.

Critical and Cultural Reception

• Critics have praised "Frontier" for its emotional and sonic impact, noting how its choral force can feel both uplifting and intimidating.
• The track is cited as a highlight on PROTO, itself a landmark release in merging electronic composition, voice, and AI collaboration.
• Reviewers have compared the scale and effect of "Frontier" to work by acts like Dead Can Dance while emphasizing Herndon's unique, speculative vision of technology and human tradition converging.

Key Information Table

"Frontier" stands as a striking, genre-defying piece that reflects both the anxieties and possibilities of its time: a musical “meeting of the waters” of tradition and technology, urging listeners to contemplate the frontiers we face, both individually and collectively129.