Setting — the North Carolina experimental trio of Nathan Bowles, Jaime Fennelly and Joe Westerlund — have shared Your Destiny Distresses Me. The digital-only single was released on August 7th as part of Bandcamp Friday.
The nearly eight-minute track comes from the same sessions at Asheville’s Drop of Sun studio that produced the trio’s recent self-titled album, released on Thrill Jockey. It is, as they explain below, a different proposition to the album’s tighter, groove-driven pieces.
“We’re stoked to share ‘Your Destiny Distresses Me,’ a track from the same Drop of Sun sessions that produced our self-titled record released this spring on Thrill Jockey. Even before we started sequencing the album material, this track’s focus on acoustic sound sources (including multiple piano harp innards and a wide-open orchestral bass drum) combined with inky, binaural synth smears denoted a specific vibe that, if anything, suggested that it stood out best in its own isolated context, like a heavy, pendulous obelisk arcing slowly in space. This is an approach that we were curious to keep exploring in the studio, but we ended up choosing to dig down into greasier, loamier soil rather than keep our eyes fixed solely towards the skies. Thankfully, Adam McDaniel had the tapes rolling while we donned our low-gravity suits for this one. We hope that you can feel the float, too.”
Glenn Kimpton reviewed the self-titled album for KLOF Mag, writing that Setting “distils their blend of acoustic instrumentation, cassette loops and electronics to thrilling effect.” He called it “their clearest expression yet, making Setting the perfect title.”
The trio have been on a packed run of live dates since early spring. Festival appearances include Big Ears, Wilco’s Solid Sound at MASS MoCA, Suoni Per Il Popolo, Nelsonville, the opening ceremony at Justin Vernon’s revived Eaux Claires, and Pickathon. Touring continues through the autumn, with a Midwest run in September alongside Keith Fullerton Whitman, including Sound & Gravity in Chicago and Hopscotch in Raleigh. A final northeast run in November takes in Brooklyn’s Public Records and Philadelphia’s Solar Myth, both with Wednesday Knudsen.
Upcoming Live Dates
Sep 4 – Buchanan, MI – Inner Freedom
Sep 5 – Chicago, IL – Sound & Gravity
Sep 6 – Milwaukee, WI – Vivarium *
Sep 8 – Minneapolis, MN – The Cedar Cultural Center *
Sep 9 – Madison, WI – Art Lit Lab
Sep 12 – Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Festival
Nov 4 – Brooklyn, NY – Public Records **
Nov 7 – East Meredith, NY – West Kortright Center **
Nov 8 – Philadelphia, PA – Solar Myth **
* w/ Keith Fullerton Whitman
** w/ Wednesday Knudsen