Offput by Zwil AR

𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘱𝘶𝘵 is an aria for voice and synthesizer in 4 movements with a piano interpretation at the end. Therein, Zwil AR draws a cosmic string from spiraling emotional depths to the frustrations of living in a binary culture, from microcosmic struggles with self worth to the grander ramifications of a life with fluctuating trans rights.

Like a blizzard, the SE02 synthesizer at first pelts the listener with percussive strikes, akin to a marimba, which rest on a frequency or rhythm but for a moment, ominously gathering into a thunderous and shrieking storm. With their voice, Zwil AR poses an impossible question, daring the listener to fathom what they cannot. Relentlessly, AR repeats their refrain, as if to conjure an armor that negates any request for explanation. In contrast, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰 channels these emotions in quite the opposite direction, offering an introspective and atmospheric fruition of lyrics from 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘱𝘶𝘵, “Put me on the piano. Pick me up, and throw me down on the piano. Put me on...”

This piece is my attempt to express a pure emotion in its most visceral/vulnerable form. I was feeling unappreciated when I first imagined this piece on piano in late 2020. By the time I recorded this version in 2021, the frustration had grown into this explosive, chaotic, spiraling out of poignant sentiments into something inexpressible and way overly applied. It was everywhere, all the time. Now with nonbinary identities being written out of, and in some cases forbidden by, US law, I fear this experience is more universally applicable.

a they

linktr.ee