Wrekmeister Harmonies

Wrekmeister Harmonies, the duo of JR Robinson and Esther Shaw, are sonic shape shifters with expansive ideas, and a distinctly dark bent. Inspired by artists such as Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham and Lou Reed, Wrekmeister approaches each album as a new sonic adventure. Formed as an art collective by Robinson, Wrekmeister created hypnagogic installation works, film soundtracks and music for guitar and spatial orchestral performances. Collaborations with diverse artists for both recording and unique performances have included Ryley Walker, Cooper Crain, The Body, Mary Lattimore, Olivia Block, Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) and Thor Harris (Swans).

Flowers in the Spring was born of deep, careful listening as much as composing. The album explores music as a meditative practice with a focus on microtonal shifts and intersectional overtones. Robinson explains: “it’s the subtle movements within and without, the fine threads of sound, loud or quiet, interior or exterior that become valuable.” Limiting himself to just four mixer channels on each piece, Robinson would precisely layer guitar and electronics, intently listening and manipulating either the intensity or the duration of each loop to yield unexpected interactions, moments of beauty as well as dissonance. Each piece grew from a specific scene and atmosphere that Robinson worked to replicate in sound. “Flowers in Spring” emerges from fizzing distortion, Robinson hewing monolithic slabs of drone from the rock face while electronics push through fissures. “Fuck the Pigs” uses layers of noise as it metaphorically shifts into the depths of winter, arctic winds howling while the guitar scars like frost across a windowpane. In contrast “A Shepherd Stares Into the Sun” is pure light and heat, overwhelming in its sheer celestial enormity. “Flowers Variation” was born of nature’s microscopic subterranean movements in its primordial gloom and buzzing synth pads. Each track holds multitudes of micro sonic details coming together to form the album’s expansive ecosystem.

Flowers in the Spring is a culmination of Wrekmeister Harmonies’ endlessly explorative practice, and stands as their most minimal and resonant work to date. Robinson’s egoless, introspective approach allows and accepts the chaos and constant movement of the universe, takes it as inspiration and informs his work in crafting music that transcends the entropy that surrounds us.