Daniel Wohl: État
New Amsterdam Records / Nonesuch Records

Who would have imagined an album by Los Angeles-based composer Daniel Wohl could share common ground with Burial and Deathprod? État, surprisingly enough, does exactly that, and a whole lot more besides. Written and produced by Wohl (with co-production by Son Lux's Ryan Lott and mmph), the release presents nine pieces performed by him with members of yMusic and the Calder Quartet. Though he's written orchestral and chamber works and created scores for film, television, and ballet, État is a radically different animal, even if it does still slot itself reasonably comfortably into the electro-acoustic genre. If the recording does seem boundary-pushing, it's by design, Wohl himself stating that during the project's development his interest in music production tools intensified and saying, “I wanted to get as deep as I could into the production of sound.”

Interestingly, the credits list him as playing piano on two tracks, but I'm guessing his contributions to the sound design extend far beyond that modest keyboard credit. One comes away from the recording less focused on a single instrument and more on the overall sound mass each track was shaped into by him using studio production methods and electronic treatments. Consistent with that, seven string players participate (Michi Wiancko, Eliza Bagg, Rob Moose, Nadia Sirota, Eric Byers, Andie Springer, Mariel Roberts, specifically), yet État never feels dominated by them, nor any other instrument for that matter. In French, the word means “state,” but like the musical content, the title is open-ended and allows for any number of interpretations, from the political to the personal. Such indeterminacy doesn't diminish the music, however, it being compelling regardless of the meaning one chooses to associate with it.

In the mournful opener “Melt,” Wohl's tinkling piano dances through a miasma of string textures and hazy atmospheric textures like some spectral presence. With its bulk advancing in a convulsive lurch, “Ships,” on the other hand, evokes the image of immense vessels moving through engulfing mists of fog, and one exits the track awed by the density and detail of its textural design. With Poliça's Channy Leaneagh gracing the arrangement with an alluring vocal,“Angel” naturally stands out, though it's as memorable for its comparatively gentle, hymn-like character. Yet even in a track marked by restraint, Wohl, with flutist Alex Sopp and clarinetist Ken Thomson along for the ride, tickles the ear with all kinds of sonic touches.

August 2019