Disquiet

Over at the website of Ghostly International, they’re pushing the new Christopher Willits album, Surf Boundaries, due out in about a month, with a free download. “Yellow Spring” is a pop song by an electronic musician whose best work in the past has veered toward pop without ever reaching it (MP3). Thanks to a floating rhythm and a spirited if ephemeral vocal part, the track adheres to a beat without ever making its purpose clear. This is a notable achievement for Willits, who previously has largely avoided evident metrics in favor of ever-shifting rhythmic centers that rotated their heft like a planet making its course in a solar system comprised of many small suns. With “Yellow Spring” Willits keeps to the straight and narrow, but never succumbs to the metronomic impulse. And when the piece fades for its extended, centerless denouement, we get a taste of the Willits behind the beat. More info at christopherwillits.com.

By Marc Weidenbaum