Back in June we introduced Clerestory, the latest album from Berlin-based polymath Jules Reidy coming this September via Thrill Jockey. Reidy’s debut Ghost/Spirit was explored mysticism with the depth and density such themes warrant, though despite spending significant time in shadowy contemplation, the narrative arc always pointed towards eventual transcendence. So while Clerestory offers a far lighter tone to its predecessor, this is not a pivot away from that style so much as a continuation of its mission. “The clue is in the title itself,” as we wrote:
A clerestory being a high wall set with windows, often in a church, which serves to imbue a space with light and fresh air. This image which embodies the sound of the release, as though the path Reidy established on Ghost/Spirit has merely continued onto a new canvas, angling upwards towards the light. Of course, with light comes shadow, and no-one familiar with Reidy’s work would expect anything other than a sound full of the weight of contradiction. But the overarching sense is a record on the edge of transcendence, one foot on earth, the other stepping towards something altogether more spiritual.
After sharing a single edit of ‘Shadow Symmetric’, a composition recorded with the renowned JACK Quartet, Jules Reidy has now returned with ‘Clerestory Windows V’. A solo work on hex electric guitar that’s described as a “refraction” of a segment of the larger work, the cut is crafted from Euclidean sequencing and pitch-shifted guitar tones to again create a sound full of dualism—be that between shadow and light or detail and space. As if to highlight this feature, ‘Clerestory Windows V’ “ends with the simplest and most reduced iteration of the piece,” as Reidy explains, “and trails off into two oscillating sine tones: the piece’s fundamental and its shadow.” Take a listen below:
