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photo by Emma Roche
The have awake, half dream state of "Half Ton Pet" by New York, New York based alt pop, neo soul hyrbid, experimental Photokem feels like a living breathing entity. You can feel a semi labored heartbeat, you can feel adrenaline coursing through veins as multi-facetted memories stream by, some of them creating heightened awareness and some feeling like emotional death and birth at the same time. The musical bed for Nana Acheampong's brooding word play feels surreal like musical lab experiments, maybe a cross-generational amalgam of collaborations like Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays, Abdul Wadud & Julius Hemphill steaming through Hiroshi Suzuki and trying to sound like a Sha's Banryu iteration.
I don't admit to understanding "Half Ton Pet" but I don't really care. I just enjoy freefalling through the sounds, the whirlwind of expressions, hard and soft, and come out of the other side all the better having experienced it.
LINER NOTES (bracketed):
[The titular single off Photokem’s upcoming EP is the group’s most ambitious track to date. The song moves fluidly through a series of darkly colorful, intricately arranged scenes that evoke the image of a brisk winter day. Balancing the organic textures of live arrangement — notably neoclassical-inspired contributions on piano and cello — with cold-yet-organic electronic elements pulling from the hypnotic nature of early deep house, “Half Ton Pet” delicately nods to a wide range of influences, while remaining rooted in its singular approach to painting a detailed portrait of a contemplative inner world.]
[Inspirations include Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano compositions, the slow building, organic electronic production of Larry Heard’s “Microgravity,” Harald Sohlberg’s “A Winter Night in the Mountains,” Sade’s style of lyrical worldbuilding, and Arthur Russell’s approach to interweaving composition and improvisation.]
[Inspirations include Ryuichi Sakamoto’s piano compositions, the slow building, organic electronic production of Larry Heard’s “Microgravity,” Harald Sohlberg’s “A Winter Night in the Mountains,” Sade’s style of lyrical worldbuilding, and Arthur Russell’s approach to interweaving composition and improvisation.]
Enjoy the fall and afterward let it go, the tears, the joy and everything in between.
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://photokem.bandcamp.com/releases
https://open.spotify.com/track/3MgSnaQTdaXmbH8VxCMEON
https://www.facebook.com/photokemband
Photokem comprises vocalist Nana Acheampong, cellist Evan Ryckebusch, and instrumentalists Nico Fennell and Jack Kelly. The band formed in 2021 while all members were studying at the University of Texas at Austin. While in Austin, Photokem released their debut EP, Luffon Bright, and performed at several venues around the area, including Mohawk, Antone’s Nightclub, and a sold out EP release show at the Spiderhouse Ballroom featuring a 12-piece orchestral ensemble.
After graduating in 2022, the band continued to collaborate, traveling together across Pittsburgh, Austin, and New York in their shared period of post-graduate unemployment. It was largely during this time in the latter half of 2022 and early 2023 that their upcoming EP, Half Ton Pet, was written and recorded. The band is now employed and has relocated to New York City, where they will begin to perform a new set of yet to be recorded material in 2024.
"Hard Candy", 5 piece band, art rock, artist Nana Acheampong, austin, avant pop, avant rock, lead singer, Photokem, poet, post punk, spoken word, University of Texas, "Half Ton Pet" EP,
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://photokem.bandcamp.com/releases
https://open.spotify.com/track/3MgSnaQTdaXmbH8VxCMEON
https://www.facebook.com/photokemband
Photokem comprises vocalist Nana Acheampong, cellist Evan Ryckebusch, and instrumentalists Nico Fennell and Jack Kelly. The band formed in 2021 while all members were studying at the University of Texas at Austin. While in Austin, Photokem released their debut EP, Luffon Bright, and performed at several venues around the area, including Mohawk, Antone’s Nightclub, and a sold out EP release show at the Spiderhouse Ballroom featuring a 12-piece orchestral ensemble.
After graduating in 2022, the band continued to collaborate, traveling together across Pittsburgh, Austin, and New York in their shared period of post-graduate unemployment. It was largely during this time in the latter half of 2022 and early 2023 that their upcoming EP, Half Ton Pet, was written and recorded. The band is now employed and has relocated to New York City, where they will begin to perform a new set of yet to be recorded material in 2024.
"Hard Candy", 5 piece band, art rock, artist Nana Acheampong, austin, avant pop, avant rock, lead singer, Photokem, poet, post punk, spoken word, University of Texas, "Half Ton Pet" EP,
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