Acclaimed New York-based composer and percussionist Eli Keszler will release his highly anticipated self-titled album on May 2nd through LUCKYME. Featuring twelve tracks, the album offers a striking blend of abstract electronic sounds, jazz, and cinematic textures. The album features contributions from singer Sofie Royer and saxophonist Sam Gendel who helped him achieve what he calls a “reverent, almost religious feeling,” created from “tiny fragments.” Keszler’s approach was focused on recontextualization and recombination, allowing the music to flow freely across various genres while maintaining its emotional core. “I aimed to take a feeling and let the music move freely across mediums, materials, and genres”, Keszler says, “allowing it to go wherever it wanted while staying out of its way, gently guiding the process.” This fluidity, he notes, often comes from moments of personal change and transformation, reflected in the album’s dreamlike, noir-inspired atmosphere. He adds:
“The world doesn’t feel so static anymore, does it?” Everything seems raw, nasty, and real in a way I don’t recall experiencing before. And yet, a heart-on-sleeve approach doesn’t suit me either. So here I am, submerged in…whatever this is. Full of feeling, quietly taking it in.”
Ahead of the album’s release, Keszler has shared a video for new track ‘Ever Shrinking World’ directed by Japanese filmmaker Daisuke Hasegawa. The video complements the song’s haunting theme, with Hasegawa describing it as a reflection of a world that has “grown increasingly smaller.” He continues, “The reality unfolding before my eyes is infinitely distant, yet infinitely close. In such a dry world, a man and a shark wander in search of uncertain light. ‘Ever Shrinking World,’ within this diminished world.”
Here’s the video for ‘Ever Shrinking World’.
