Tinnitus Chorus

Description

Dawson's latest album, The Tinnitus Chorus, is a wide-eyed collaboration album. He is joined by an inspired cast of revered friends and related strangers, including Suso Saiz, M. Sage (Fuubutsushi), Eli Winter, K. Freund (Trouble Books / Lemon Quartet), Dasom Baek, Lina Langendorf (Langendorf United), Vumbi Dekula, Jairus Sharif, Yutaka Hirasaka, and his mates from the Peace Flag Ensemble. The collection concludes with two pieces featuring Michael Grigoni. From bird songs and decaying tape to sprawling western sounds, each of Dawson's previous solo albums has evolved in a singular direction, but here he approaches things through a kaleidoscopic lens. While his polished ambient sketches serve as a common thread, they are woven with all sorts of instruments, from clarinet and modular synth to steel guitars and bugle. Improvised Congolese guitars sit alongside American experimental folk. Handmade electronics give way to spiritual saxophone. M. Sage brings what is called a "mystical music box." The result is a strange and beautiful journey that seems lost between genres yet is completely unified. Dawson reflects on the genesis of the album with a wry smile and a shrug. He has been plagued by ear problems in recent years and struggled to finish a solo album. The clicks, rings, and whistles in his ears had drowned out the bells, clicks, and whistles in his studio. When he reached out to We Are Busy Bodies to check in on the album, he was faced with an unsuspecting proposal: perhaps focus on a collaboration album. The truth is he had been mulling over the idea for years, and WABB's nudge turned out to be the motivation he needed to set aside his insecurities and invite artists he admires to join him for The Tinnitus Chorus.