A woman plucks an eight-stringed mandolin in the desert until she falls asleep, head lolling and wind-whipped hair confused across her face until she finally lays down and shuts her eyes. From a vantage point behind the moon (a dune beyond), a lion watches with reflective eyes. The scene is night. The color is jazz. The objects don’t belong. They look like they’ve never been seen before, imagined by an alien artist. Saxophone shooting stars; lush pads.
Joseph Shabason noodles and preens his way through a rather loose “cycle” of chord changes on “Tite Cycle,” the latest track to be released from his upcoming debut album, Aytche. Shabason is the saxophonist in Destroyer, keyboardist of DIANA, and a willing participant in sultry nu-stylings. His sax work sounds positively drenched and negatively charged, bursting into the foreground. It’s ambient music steeped in synth, but above the synthetics are layers of gorgeous, organic soloing.
Sink into “Title Cycle” below, and pre-order Aytche from Western Vinyl. It’s out on August 25.
More about: Destroyer, DIANA, Joseph Shabason
