New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Composer-performer
Daniel Wohl's album État is out now on New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records. The album features electro-acoustic pieces written by Wohl, and includes guest performances by Poliça's Channy Leaneagh with co-production by Son Lux's Ryan Lott and mmph. État, recorded with members of yMusic and the Calder Quartet, is the third release in a new partnership between the two record labels, established with the goal of enabling contemporary American composers to realize creative ambitions that might not otherwise be achievable.
To pick up a copy, head to iTunes, Bandcamp, and the Top40-CHarts.com Store, where CD orders include an instant download of the complete album. It can also be heard on Spotify, Apple Music, and other digital service providers.
NPR Music's All Songs Considered has named it one of the Top 6 Albums Out This Week. "This is a really beautiful record; love the textures kind of underpinning this one," says NPR's
Robin Hilton. His colleague Tom Huizenga concurs: "It's beautiful. I think he's really one of the most imaginative electroacoustic composer-musicians working today." As does NPR's Stephen Thompson, who adds: "These pieces really breathe in such a fascinating way. It's a really easy record to just get completely carried away by." NPR
Music also named the opening track, "Melt," one of the 20 Best New Songs We Heard in April, saying: "A sorcerer of electroacoustic sonorities,
Daniel Wohl is back with a potent dreamscape of clicks, creaks, jagged interruptions, aching melodies and enough new sounds to keep the most tech-obsessed gear heads guessing."
Born and raised in Paris and currently residing in Los Angeles,
Daniel Wohl is consistently celebrated for his distinctive blend of electronics with acoustic instrumentation to "surprising and provocative effect" (NPR). On État, Wohl pushes this combination to a new level, exploring the new dimensions that masterful production can provide. "While being fascinated with classically notated acoustic composition I also became interested in all the music production tools currently available and was drawn towards combining both methods," Wohl explains. "I wanted to get as deep as I could into the production of sound."
État, which in French means "state," references an evocative image, both ancient and futuristic, that Wohl kept imagining as he created the music—an artifact from the past that holds a message, buried deep in the earth and slowly becoming exposed, until it is discoverable. "I find the notion pretty fascinating," Wohl says, "that something is always there—knowledge, experience, an idea—you just need to be in the right state, or have the right lens, to be able to perceive it."
Wohl, praised as one of his generation's "imaginative, skillful creators" (New York Times), has produced albums and written orchestral and chamber works, as well as film, television, and ballet scores. He has collaborated on projects with Jóhann Jóhannsson,
David Lang,
Morgan Neville, Julia Holter, Son lux and Laurel Halo, and his music has been programmed by esteemed ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony (SoundBox), the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (MusicNOW), the Bang on a Can All-Stars, eighth blackbird, Sō Percussion, the Calder Quartet, and the Mivos Quartet. Recent performances of his music have been held at Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, the Barbican, the Broad Museum, MASS MoCA, Sadler's Wells, the Holland Festival and MoMA PS1.
