There is the contemporary music tradition, and then there is Dan Samsa. Seamlessly blending classical, techno, jungle and jazz, the musical pioneer joyfully imagines his debut album Contours as a genre-defying exploration far beyond the borders of sound as we know it.
Complex textures meet incessant, warm piano melodies that meander with the ease of Débussy's piano music - the brass section accentuates, rather than sustains the soundtrack, that is at some moments dark and ominous and others ecstatic and mind-bending. With the tracks Shroud and Impression, Dan exposes his electronic music roots; thumping bass meets a warped brass section in these ever-evolving techno and jungle bangers. In this way Contours is infused with authenticity and character, leaving us with endlessly compelling jazz that could unleash a rave with the same ease as it will subvert the imagination.
Developing an entirely new technique for each and every one of his critically acclaimed projects, Dan Samsa's debut at Apollo Records is conceived entirely within spatial metaphors - the music seems to materialise and then evaporate through Dan's careful musical craftsmanship, suspending and weaving the live instruments into atmospheric textures. These have been recorded with a 360° spatial microphone within magnificent locations around London, where Dan directed the performers to take on multiple positions throughout spaces such as Southwark Cathedral. Through this approach to recording, the listener is immersed into abstract sound textures that resonate and reverberate in ways we are not used to; it's the space that takes place inside of the music, rather than the other way around. 'It's the sheer diversity of music that holds its beauty,' says Dan Samsa, weaving folk vocals and arrangements into refined structures. The album deals with time, as much as it deals with space. Essentially it is about dealing with the sudden shudders of change, accepting the inevitable aspects of time and using it as a source for progress.'