Something about the month of October awakens a doomjazz beast within me. Perhaps it is the moody weather–well, previously moody, now it is eighty degrees, but I digress–or the pervasive undercurrent of Halloween, but this time of year, I always find myself drawn to strange, highly experimental music best suited for a spooky evening walk.
Fortunately for me, the perfect soundtrack, courtesy of Chicago’s Madam Orange, has arrived, with a new track titled “Mare Crisium”, that we are pleased to premiere on Everything Is Noise today.
Madam Orange is the collaborative project of two excellent musicians in the scene, Emily Rach Beisel on woodwinds and electronics, and Bill Harris on drums and electronics. Madam Orange‘s debut recorded album Parallax arrives October 23 via Amalgam, a Chicago collective and label.
Beisel spoke regarding the new track:
‘”Mare Crisium” really showcases the strange ways that Bill and I both extend our instruments. The first sound you hear is Bill playing melodica while I do death-growl vocals into the bass clarinet. Throughout the track, we take turns alternately providing a textural layer or acting as a rhythmic provocateur. This role-switching, and our tendency to push our instruments outside their typical purview, is a core element of Madam Orange.’
This boundary-pushing approach is immediately apparent on “Mare Crisium”, which stretches the sonic confines of what many in more traditional spaces might refer to as music. It’s urgent, foreboding, but somehow playful as Beisel and Harris engage in a call-and-response that reminded me of a horror film score. Despite the track itself being highly improvisational, there’s a cinematic quality to “Mare Crisium” that creates a great tension between the sprawling, chaotic interplay between Beisel and Harris and the building sense of dread from the background droning.
Listen to the track below.
Parallax will be released on CD and digitally on October 23. Find preorders here. Follow their socials here:
Photos by Ricardo Adame
