Witching Sound in the Anthropocene (and Occultcene)

This chapter proposes that in an era described as the Anthropocene, which names the dominance of human impact on the planet, witching sound makes audible an Occultcene and manifests other forms of life, touch, agency, and potential impact. Drawing from feminist musicology and sound studies, the chapter offers deep listening and witching sound as the means by which one might engage with the tensions and agencies that oscillate between the Anthropocene narrative and the potentialities of the Occultcene. Divide and Dissolve's album Gas Lit is presented as a witching sound that produces affective musical intensity in response to violence against people and the earth: misogyny, racism, murder, and/or the theft of Indigenous lands. Indeed, the band's music demonstrates the interconnectedness of such violence and power while cultivating a countering witching sound that attempts to transform power relations and reimagine futures