New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Since forming in New York in 2008, yMusic has distinguished itself as a thoroughly modern chamber group, defying orthodoxy and paving a new path for ambitious, genre-fluid young musicians. Through the precision and virtuosity of its playing and its collaborations with an assortment of acclaimed artists - including renowned composers like Caroline Shaw, Son Lux, andNico Muhly, beloved songwriters like Paul Simon, Ben Folds, John Legend,St. Vincent's
Annie Clark, Bruce Hornsby, and ANOHNI, and indie rock groups like Dirty Projectors, The Tallest Man On Earth, and The Staves - yMusic have constantly challenged themselves to contort into new shapes and, as a result, have built a singularly rewarding body of work.
Fifteen years into a varied and respected career, today yMusic announceYMUSIC, a new album due out May 5th on StorySound Records. YMUSIC marks another creative milestone for the group: Instead of interpreting other artists' compositions or building upon the works of others, YMUSIC finds the group focused on discovering an artistic voice all their own. This is a groundbreaking album from a group of musicians who, over the past decade and a half, have mind-melded through rhythm, melody, harmony, and artistic impulse — both a culmination of their alchemic artistry and a fresh, bold adventure into group composition.
Today, yMusic share the album's dreamily percussive lead single "Zebras." Says the group about the track: "This was inspired, at first, by the sound of key clicks on the bass clarinet. The song goes back and forth between a "big 7" and "little 7" feel, meaning that the song can be counted in either a fast or slow seven beats. The title came from some stand-in, nonsense lyrics Alex wrote along with the ascending melody, and we got attached to calling the track "Zebras." We love the anthemic end, as well as the eventual triumph of Hideaki's bass line."
The nine pieces on YMUSIC serve as a natural extension of the lessons yMusic have learned through years of collaboration — all of the songs were created together, sometimes at in-person jam sessions, but more often virtually over the course of the pandemic. Each song is a relatively concise statement that explores disparate compositional territory, like a collection of short stories linked more by theme than by setting.
Throughout its runtime, YMUSIC delivers moments of sublime mystery and complicated resolution: Opening track, "Baragon" weaves a web of rhythmically-driven grooves and intoxicating melodies, mixing flashes of earnest beauty into a foreboding collage of timbres. "
The Wolf" is almost all gesture, beginning with an amorphous rhythmic buildup and a series of rising chromatic phrases that lend it an alluring tension. Meanwhile "
Cloud" sounds like a chamber group performing a deconstructed hip-hop sample; traces of the DNA of past collaborators are evident, but the triumphal union of cascading horns, lissome vocals, and obtuse rhythmic propulsion is all yMusic's own.
yMusic are Alex Sopp (flutes / voice), Hideaki Aomori (clarinets), CJ Camerieri (trumpet / French horn), Rob Moose (violin), Nadia Sirota (viola), and Gabriel Cabezas (cello). Their virtuosic execution and unique configuration have attracted the attention of high profile collaborators—from
Paul Simon to Bill T. Jones to Ben Folds—and inspired original works by some of today's foremost composers, including Andrew Norman, Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, Son Lux, Missy Mazzoli, Marcos Balter, Judd Greenstein and Gabriella Smith. They have performed around the world in venues of all sizes, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Madison
Square Garden.
yMusic will embark on live dates throughout the year, beginning with release shows in Los Angeles (May 9 at 2220 Arts + Archives) and New York (May 12 at Public Records). Keep an eye out for more tour dates to be announced soon.
YMUSIC TRACKLIST:
Baragon
Zebras
Peter Inn
The Wolf
Flood
Sober Miles
Three Elephants
Whosay
Cloud
