Yearner is the latest standalone single from Joshua Van Tassel, out now on Backward Music.
Van Tassel is a Juno Award-winning producer, the person behind records by the likes of Rose Cousins, Matt Andersen, Jenn Grant and Doug Paisley, among many others. He has appeared on these pages as producer of Villages’ Dark Island and a co-producer of the Good Lovelies’ We Will Never Be The Same.
The single is built around his Ondea. If you haven’t come across one, it’s a modern rebuild of the Ondes Martenot, Maurice Martenot’s 1928 electronic instrument. When Van Tassel received the instrument, he shared on Instagram:
I’ve never been more excited for anything to arrive in the studio ever and it’s finally here. I fell absolutely in love with the French instrument the Ondes Martenot years ago. It’s an instrument made for pure expression and creativity. David Keane @audities_studio has painstakingly and lovingly brought the Ondea into the world, walking the fine line between tradition and pushing the limitations of the original instrument. I’m so so in love and you’ll never see me again outside of here and my home, please send carbohydrates, I love you bye.
On the single, processed drums sit alongside his Ondea (and Moog Matriarch), with Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas) on bass, Joseph Shabason on woodwinds and Rose Cousins on wordless vocals.
“The piece lurches through feelings of loss, yearning, memory and beauty.” — Joshua Van Tassel
Van Tassel’s last solo release was The Recently Beautiful in 2023. Short pieces, none longer than three minutes, that he called “lullabies for adults.”
The artwork is by Toronto photographer Wade Muir, from a series of photographs of his late mother. Muir also shot the cover of The Recently Beautiful. He picked this image after hearing the track.
Van Tassel was born in rural Nova Scotia. He is also co-creative director of Dream Date Designs, a plugin instrument company, and has contributed to hardware including Roland’s TR1000 and Oddment Audio’s ODD-1.