Portrait Imperfect (Biophilia)
Chase Elodia
Released May 2022
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lyMpdscX4ah65glXmVk6fOkm-kAPSa6eM
Spotify:
About:
Inspired by readings of media theorists throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Portrait Imperfect is the debut recording from Chase Elodia’s new ensemble. Joined by bandmates Claire Dickson on vocals, Theo Walentiny on pianos and keyboards, and Tyrone Allen on Bass, Elodia uses the album as a space to reflect on how online ecosystems have transfigured the way we relate to ourselves and one another. The album parses the intricacies and complexities of digital life across eight diverse tracks, three of which features Morgan Guerin on EWI. The album is notable for the way it foregrounds the voice, with Elodia’s perceptive lyric-writing taking center stage on most tracks.
“I love the drums, and most of my first musical heroes were drummers. My time studying with Billy Hart was foundational to how I think about every aspect of my creative practice. But I also have a deep and abiding love for language, and studied English literature in college in addition to music. These days I find myself perhaps just as inspired by the writings of Fernando Pessoa, Jane Hirschfield, and Susan Sontag as I do by the drumming of Terri Lyne Carrington, John Hollenbeck, and Deantoni Parks.”
These literary influences are apparent throughout the album, as the songs discuss ideas such as the “spotless decay” of digital archives, the “placeless modernity and pageantry” of social networking, and the “contingencies of salvation” that are woven into our productivity-obsessed culture. Dickson’s voice, with its airy twinge, beautifully sounds out Elodia’s ruminations throughout the affair, from the hypnotic machinations of “readreceipt” to the plaintive questions of “Silent Keeper.”
“I’m continually asking questions about the affordances of digital technologies – both in regard to how we live our lives, but also in thinking about the role of music and art in our
hyper-connected moment,” says Elodia. “In what ways do these technologies propagate an increasingly avaricious and materialist cultural disposition? And how, as musicians and artists, might we be
able to both attend to and challenge that way of relating to the world?”
Track Listing:
1. Four Wide 04:14
2. You (Water) 05:33
3. readreceipt 04:26
4. Everywhere 04:30
5. The Archivist 05:46
6. Better Work (Intro) 01:32
7. Better Work 06:08
8. Silent Keeper 06:18
Personnel:
Chase Elodi: drums, compositions
Claire Dickson: voice
Morgan Guerin: EWI (Tracks 5, 6, & 7)
Theo Walentiny: piano and keyboards
Tyrone Allen: acoustic bass, electric bass, synth bass
Recorded June 21 & 22, 2021 at the Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, NY, by Aaron Nevezie
Mixed and Mastered by Lee Meadvin
Review:
Chase Elodia is a hell of a drummer and on his debut album for the Biophilia label, Portrait Imperfect (38:27; HHHH½), he has written songs and amassed a band that shows this off impeccably. These songs are ambitious, tricky, artful, and they all stick the landing. Claire Dickson takes the front on vocals, serving the lyrics, providing just the faintest bits of flavor to the notes and leaving room for the rest of this band to work together. Tyrone Allen finds numerous ways to stick out on the bass, subtly making his presence known. Theo Walentiny on keys shimmers and shapes. Morgan Guerin on the EWI is a natural fit for an instrument that doesn’t often naturally fit places without true intention. The ending section of album closer “Silent Keeper” is a real head-turner that could maybe pull some tears if one isn’t careful.
Anthony Dean-Harris (DownBeat)
