Although Nicholas Szczepanik often plays with different timbres and textures, the one element that is always prevalent in his work is stasis. Szczepanik is fascinated with what happens when a single sound is very gradually altered during an extended period of time. This basic concept has permeated all of the composer’s work, from the queasy monolithic beauty of Please Stop Loving Me to the warbly miniatures of We Make Life Sad, but the recently released Sueños may be the sparest and most transparent illustration of Szczepanik’s musical process yet.
Sueños’ four tracks work with oscillating sine waves and microscopically shift in tone/texture over long durations in a manner very similar to Eliane Radigue’s work. Throughout, the transparency of Szczepanik’s process allows the listener to fully revel in the shifting stasis of his gorgeously minimal drones.
Sueños is available now as a pay-what-you-want download from Szczepanik’s bandcamp. You can stream the record below:
• Nicholas Szczepanik http://www.nszcz.com
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