26. April 2022 By Walter Price 0

ZHEA EROSE Eurybia / XQQQ

Zhea Erose is available on Apple Music, Bandcamp, Spotify.

Before any of you, full-on aficionados, of the sort of music I’m about to talk about get twisty, I get it. I will not be able to fully articulate what I’ve been hearing, but I think it’s important to draw attention to the mastermind behind it all.

Zhea Erose is her name and she’s crafting some pretty far-out electronica. Someplace between Kraftwerk and Pat Metheny, the initial track that I stumbled upon and subsequently started my journey into Erose is called “Eurybia” (2020). An enchanting soundscape I’d find difficult to explain. But the composer, on her Bandcamp, says, “Eurybia was painful to make. This piece is perhaps the clearest and most direct expression I’ve made. It was profoundly therapeutic. This is piece is in just intonation.” Too bad it has pain directly sewn into its fabric, but the result is lush and astonishingly otherworldly.

Eventually, I was led to a more recent offering called “XQQQ”. This track, by the self-proclaimed ‘microtonal angel’, has more of an intentionally discombobulated blend of psych, jazz, and wild sound exploration. Not to mention a music video that could be stroke-inducing.

I mean, come on. While people are blindly dancing to meaningless TikTok tracks, there are brilliant up-and-coming composers out there killing it with actual creativity and imagination as they introduce us all to their vast new worlds to get lost in.

If Erose wasn’t already fascinating enough, she also has a YouTube channel called TransVoiceLessons. Which, is exactly what it sounds like. A brilliant and helpful place for so many to land. Again, layer upon layer to this creator. Kudos.

You can check out the music videos for both Eurybia and XQQQ [microtonal future bass] (strobe warning), here at the GTC.