Surely, Balance Problems, the latest LP by the New York chamber classical outfit yMusic, is a misnomer. Tackling compositions by various composers (including Nico Muhly and Sufjan Stevens) is no easy task, but this collective of six musicians has proven itself able to balance the variegated compositions it plays. yMusic is made up of Rob Moose, CJ Camerieri, Clarice Jensen, Alex Sopp, Hideaki Aomori, and Nadia Sirota, all impressive musicians in their own right. When they all come together as yMusic, however, the results are even more stunning.
Case in point “Bladed Stance”, a composition by Marcos Balter. The piece is a silky latticework of wind instruments and strings that flows in aqueous and mesmerizing patterns. The video for “Bladed Stance”, which you can view exclusively below, is a collage of stunning, at times phantasmagoric images that brilliantly complement the dream-like quality of the music. The tune itself has a Terrence Malick-like quality in its ethereal nature, something director Dan Huiting honed in on in crafting the video.
yMusic member Nadia Sirota, responsible for last year’s excellent release Baroque, says of the song, “In ‘Bladed Stance’, the six players of yMusic become one shivery organism, pulling weird and beautiful colors out of resonance and harmonics. This gorgeous, alien texture is set off by a post-human tableaux, filmed in Iceland’s stark countryside. The group became aware of the video’s director, Dan Huiting, while two of its members toured with Bon Iver. We felt that his aesthetic was a perfect match for this particular track.”
Huiting says of the video, “When I first heard the song, I immediately thought of the ethereal landscapes of Iceland. In the video we keep coming back to this theme of birds flying over different landscapes with no people in them. It feels almost post-apocalyptic to me, especially after we see the downed plane. Like this is the landscape we are left with after all human life is gone, and only the birds are the final witnesses.”
Balance Problems is out now through New Amsterdam.