As E+E, Bolivian-born producer Elysia Crampton put out a number of releases focused on experimentation around sound and rhythm collages. One of the latest and most perfect examples is her 2014 The Light That You Gave Me To See You EP, which was an amazing and schizophrenic mash-up of samples from diverse origins. Now using her own name, Crampton is putting out her 4-song debut album, called American Drift, which is has a conceptual background about race, colonialism, and the history of Virginia, where she resides right now.
The first preview shared from the album is “Petrichrist,” a play on the word “petrichor,” (a word for the smell in the air after it rains) and at first it sounds like her familiar M.O.: we hear lasers, recorded laughter, vinyl scratches, bits from diverse genres like funk carioca, hip hop, screams, and so on. But it soon starts developing into something else. A tribal rhythm starts creeping in, alongside some lush pads and melodic synth lines that get denser and denser as the song progresses, giving it a cinematic feel. When it gets to its peak, she returns the song to what she originally presented, and it’s disorienting but makes perfect sense.
Elysia Crampton’s American Drift is out on Blueberry Records on July 31st.