premiere: Joseph Shabason – Aytche

Here's the most calming, dreamlike track you'll hear today: saxophonist Joseph Shabason, who you know from his work in Destroyer and as part of brilliant Toronto band DIANA, shares the first single from his beautiful new solo record Aytche, out this summer on esteemed Austin label Western Vinyl. In dealing with themes as heavy as degenerative illness and assisted suicide, Shabason conjures a remarkable emotional heft and palpable compassion through atmospheric, relatively minimalist ambient jazz, as evidenced by the magical transportive healing vibes of the glowing title track (I can't help but be reminded of the most heartbreaking moments in San Junipero, and how this song would have softened the blow). Shabason tells us over email about "Aytche":

"This was actually the first song I recorded for this album and it ended up being the title track. I had been listening to a tonne of Blue Nile and Gigi Masin and knew that I wanted to write something that featured muted trumpet...so I wrote the base track and sent it to J.P (who I play in Destroyer with) and just told him to do whatever he wanted. He took it to his studio and sent me back the trumpet that's on the track now which is almost completely unedited. After that I added a bit of sax to try and compliment what he was playing and the song was done. I often get to play with J.P for months on end and sometimes take for granted how incredible of a player he is but his playing on this track just blew me away...Hearing how good this track turned out really made me feel like making an album was actually possible. Until J.P played on Aytche the whole album was more of a pipe dream than something that actually felt like it could be a reality...So thanks J.P!"

Aytche is out August 25th.