Video Premiere: Sapropelic Pycnic – “Current of the Kosmos”

First as a member of Spires That In The Sunset Rise, and now under her Sapropelic Pycnic moniker, Kathleen Baird is swinging for big idea, heavyweight jazz in 2015. I don’t know any other way to say it: her forthcoming Sapropelic Pycnic album, See Sun Think Shadow (Perfect Wave), is full of acoustic piano cycles that are stunning for their playfulness, lightness, and dynamics. On “Current of the Kosmos,” those cyclical clusters across the keys slow to syrupy bass lines and imprints of traditional, familiar melodies. Yet, even when those melodies emerge, that pioneer spirit forged earlier in the song is not lost. Ken Camden’s floating, progressive video aesthetic perfectly accompanies the song, as the frames shift between rectangular or angled grids that produce a highly structural, architectural feel. Beyond those hints at dizzying skyscrapers or bedrock construction, the colors of the video present a warm contrast that complements the straightforward, naked production of the piano. Together, the video and composition offer countless convergences between those visual structures and aural cycles, which clears a signature universe for Sapropelic Pycnic.

See Sun Think Shadow is available from Perfect Wave today.