Sebastian Reynolds’ “Cascade”  intones a captivating voice as forbidding drones ring against throbbing rhythms, leaving listeners unsure whether to dance or to seek cover. 

Watch and listen here: 

Inspired by Reynolds’ love for bands such as Liars, Public Service Broadcasting and Radiohead, “Cascade” is an electrifying taste of what’s to come from his upcoming full-length Canary— taught, dystopic drones for a civilization in collapse marked by a compositional approach influenced by composers like Susumu Yokota, Luigi Nono, Olivier Messiaen, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. 

Once again, Reynolds traverses modern classical composition and retro-futurist production, this time visiting upon the stillbirth of a child, the death of one’s parents, the nature of consciousness, the relationship between mind and body, the fragmentation of our collective mindscape, and the awakening of machine intelligence. 

References to John F. Kennedy, Carl Jung, and Robert Monroe’s influential book Journeys Out of the Body pepper Reynolds’ meditations as samples from contemporary figures Sam Harris, Lex Friedman, and Navy SEAL Jocko Willink both guide and disorient the listener. As always, Reynolds is keen on preserving a sense of meaning in the mélange of programmed and organic sounds he’s come to be known for. 

Reynolds has collaborated with German classical/expressionist musician/composers Anne Müller (Erased Tapes) and Alex Stolze (Bodi Bill) in their Solo Collective project, as well as Mike Bannard at The Aviary and others. He also continues to work on commissions for Neon Dance. Recent works with the company include Puzzle Creature, Prehension Blooms, the Thai-inspired Mahajanaka Dance Drama, and Manuals for Living and Dying. He is currently working on a film commission for Oxford University. His music has been widely supported across the BBC‘s networks and beyond. He hails from Oxford, where he spent his formative years cutting his teeth in the UK cult outfits Braindead Collective and Keyboard Choir.