Sun Speak - Probiotic Orchestrations (LP)

As genre conventions continue to morph and blur, there's a wealth of stunning new music being made wherever groups of musicians have the imagination and ingenuity to transcend the old boundaries and just play whatever comes naturally. Sun Speak are such a group and their album Probiotic Orchestrations is full of music that's urgent, powerful, accessible and humorous, pulling together sounds and textures from the worlds of rock, jazz, electronica, Americana and the outer reaches of progressive music into compelling whole. Guitarist Matt Gold and drummer Nate Friedman first came together as Sun Speak ten years ago amid the white heat of the Chicago experimental scene, where they'd worked with such luminaries as Makaya McCraven and Patricia Barber. On this, their sixth release, they continue to develop their own distinctive sonic world with the aid of fellow Chicagoan Daniel Pierson who joined as engineer/sound sculptor and now increasingly takes a collaborative role as a third member of the band on keyboards. Now the trio are dispersed and live in different corners of the USA, but in 2024 they came together in a remote seaside cabinin New Hampshire, writing and recording every day in an intense undisturbed whirlwind of creativity. Probiotic Orchestrations is the result - a dazzling mix of improvisation and composition, exploring rhythm, colour and texture with the directness of rock and the fearless improvisatory flair of jazz.