Soft Science by Matt Evans
Matt Evans is a percussionist, composer, and experimentalist in Brooklyn, NY. Zoning his latest record, “Soft Science” is like reading through a biology textbook as if it were a collection of poetry and watching the letters slowly re-arrange until it reads more like science fiction. The album is a “mostly-not-chill” collection of brightly-hued maximalist miniatures, combining squiggly free drumming and alien synthesizers. The album sews together equal parts millennial iconography (mushrooms / house plants / anime) and retro-futurist sci-fi (Sam Delaney, THX 1138, Ursula Le Guin) in an expression of waning utopic yearning. The sound varies widely, from the breathing synth intro of ‘Saprotrophia’ to the lush breezes of 'Alocasia' and crunchy chaos of ‘Scump’ featuring (respectively) like-minded off-world sonic travelers David Lackner and Ka Baird. Led from the drum kit, these “Jambient Zone Poems” are a frenetic post-lockdown response to the “chill complexity” of his first solo record “New Topographics” and unites obsessions with composers like Iannis Xenakis and Louis Andriessen with the expressive solo percussion performances of Milford Graves and Midori Takada, backed by a symphony of casio keyboards. The final result is stunning, an album of boundless creativity and free-spirited exploration, honing in on a sonic solar system from his own distinct galaxy.
Tracklist
| 1. | Saprotrophia | 3:17 |
| 2. | Mount Neon | 3:07 |
| 3. | Scump (feat. Ka Baird) | 2:50 |
| 4. | Worm Moon | 4:46 |
| 5. | Hyperbolic Time Chamber | 3:38 |
| 6. | Sturgeon Gibby | 3:50 |
| 7. | Estraven | 2:11 |
| 8. | Alocasia (feat. David Lackner) | 4:00 |
Credits
Drums Recorded by Matt Evans at Brah Studios in January and February 2021
Synths Recorded, Tracks Edited and Mixed by Matt Evans at Tunnel of Light Studios throughout 2021
Mastered by John Thayer
Art & Design by Steve Rosborough
Thanks to my parents, Jennae, Steve, Janek, Ka, Dave, Gabrielle, Sunday, Ben, Rob, Wo, Tristan, Karl, Pat, Leila, Ethan, Amy, Carson, Julie, John and everyone else who listened through these tracks as they came together.
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Matt Evans is a drummer and producer making acoustic and electronic music about the poetic interconnections between landscapes: internal, external, fictional, and virtual. Taking cues from millennial esoterica, natural phenomena, and science fiction, Matt uses drum-driven hypnotic soundscapes and improvisatory performances to embody imaginary ecosystems of surreal sonic worlds.