Daydream Observatory - Matt Evans

Following in the musical language of New Topographics (2020) and Soft Science (2022), Daydream Observatory points its lens towards self-examination and charts a course through a constellation of interior worlds. Sparked by a misunderstanding of the term ‘'psychogeography,” the album inhabits landscapes of consciousness, personal reflections, and skittering emotions through a collection of ten synth-saturated, drum-driven, “zone poems.”

The album vacillates from meditative to cacophonous, making up a kind of character alignment chart of things light, dark, wholesome, and misanthropic. The sound orbits the phantasmal chill-complexity of previous records while including and responding to several distinguished guests including Chris Ryan Williams (trumpet), Domenica Fossati (flute), Marta Tiesenga (saxophone), and Nyokabi Kariũki (kalimba). Their performances have been recorded, responded to, cut up, and re-sequenced meticulously to construct a kind of “soundscape bonsai” with a narrative logic that is simultaneously cathartic and lighthearted.

Inspired by Italo Calvino’s “Mr. Palomar”, Mark Bradford’s colorfully tattered collages, and maximalist referential streetwear brand “BootBoyz.Biz”, Daydream Observatory assembles a wide array of sonic worlds to present a detailed perspective on the everyday balancing of tragedy and comedy.