𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔩 𝔲𝔭 by BATTERY

"Long before I ever started booking BATTERY in a professional capacity for shows in my pop-up jazz series,The Goodbye Look, I was a fan. I had just moved back to Seattle after 7 years spent in LA, right as the new wave of jazz artists were starting to succeed in building out a vibrant and innovative scene. Highly technical jazz mixed with a wide array of genre influences, particularly electronic ones, were bringing in a buzzing new audience that was far broader than I had experienced in the prior decade and half going out to gigs. Right after moving, I started seeing videos of Jacob pop up from shows around LA. I was immediately transfixed by the high-level drum prowess and deep polyrhythms mixed with razor-sharp electronic backing tracks that he was controlling simultaneously with code and drum triggers.

In the years since, Jacob has been putting out a flood of original music, continuing to blend his deep, locked-in grooves with nostalgic, rich electronic soundscapes. A software engineer by day with a formal jazz education, he taps into a range of talents and influences that go well beyond the traditional while always centering expert instrumental craft at the core.

The album opens with the classic internet dial up sound, tapping into 90s nostalgia. This leads into track 2 (Dial Up), where deeply pleasant harmony persists alongside an 11 over 6 polyrhythm, staying in the pocket alongside a crunchy, modified sample of the dial-up sound from the intro track. Track 3 (fish beat) transported me back to an iconic Donkey Kong water level, with what is perhaps the funkiest bass groove on the album. The tune starts off deep and trancey, but then transforms midway through with a rapid breakbeat rhythmic eruption layered on top. On Track 4 (GBA), the nostalgic Game Boy Advance boot-up chime is repurposed into a series of glittering reharmonizations paired with a bouncy beat and child-like sensibility. The tune doesn’t just throw in a familiar sound for easy emotional pull, but instead imbues it with a new complementary energy.

Jacob’s fascination with the mechanical in music shines through in these boot-up chimes, dial up tones, and other operational electronic noises that blend into a tapestry of reassuring harmonies, melodies, and rhythms. In his own words: 'I love the sounds our machines make - especially the ones we remember.' BATTERY’s thoughtful precision in both harmonic and rhythmic soundscapes keeps an endless flood of contrasts and variety feeling balanced, relatable, and warmly nostalgic."

- Peter Graham

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