Remember those frustratingly brief Balam Acab teasers we posted a couple weeks ago? Well they’ve finally amounted to an actual album. Due out August 29th through Tri Angle Records, Wander/Wonder sounds like it’s bound to be one of the year’s best electronic records; a soul-stomping, sample-skewering reminder of what we loved about “downtempo” music before it turned into the sort of thing you hear in martini bars and fluorescent-tinged Thai restaurants.
Here’s the breakdown, via the 20-year-old producer Alec Koone:
It’s an open ended album, and I think individuals should make their own meaning of it so that it is something actually real to them. It’s not classical music, but in the tradition of a classical work like a Bach Cello Suite, I see it as more of a whole musical piece with themes/motifs/ideas reoccurring throughout, connecting the tracks together as opposed to simply being a collection of songs that sit next to each other in isolation. It’s also an album that should be listened to loudly.
We’re into it. And you will be too, after you hear the high-quality version of “Oh, Why” below…
Balam Acab, Wander/Wonder:
1. Welcome
2. Apart
3. Motion
4. Expect
5. Now Time
6. Oh, Why
7. Await
8. Fragile Hope
