‘Cathedrals’ is a collection of field recordings made between 2018 and 2019 at locations in or near several Australian UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, "learning places for sustainable development,… sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity".

In part inspired and in part assisted by Leah Barclay’s ‘Biosphere Soundscapes’ project, the recordings document three locations:

- Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve on Jinibara Country (QLD), in the region of Noosa Biosphere Reserve
- Wamoon/Wilson’s Promontory on Koori Country (VIC), site of Wilson’s Promontory Biosphere Reserve
- Pukumako/Calperum Station on Meru Country (SA), site of Riverland Biosphere Reserve

During the period of recording, the iconic Notre Dame suffered extensive fire damage. Many wealthy people pledged money towards its restoration, totalling over €1 billion. This response in return received backlash via social media posts entitled ‘Rebuild This Cathedral’, featuring pictures of multiple environments under threat from climate change and anthropogenic activity, critiquing the mass neglect of our natural cathedrals.

As much as its architecture, a cathedral’s identity is expressed in its soundscape, a field of acoustic energy revealing the daily rituals and liturgical observances of the site.

In framing these recording sites as sacred spaces for humans and non-humans alike, each with their own daily cycles of dawn and dusk choruses and seasonal changes, this album seeks to impart a reverence for these and other environments, with an aspiration for the listener to consider other natural cathedrals in need of restoration and rebuilding.  

https://jessebudel.bandcamp.com/album/cathedrals