Ambient Pioneer and Composer Taylor Deupree Releases ‘Ash’ EP

It’s been a busy year for renowned artist, composer, and mastering engineer Taylor Deupree. After launching his EP trilogy series with Eev and Aer, the ambient and microsound pioneer teamed up with greyfade label head Joseph Branciforte to share an all-acoustic rework of his 1998 album Stil., titled Sti.ll. The ambitious project was lauded as “a minimalist classic” (Pitchfork), “a celebrating of flow” (a closer listen), and that it “lures the listener in” (The Wire). 

Now, Deupree returns to complete the EP trilogy series that started with Eev and Aer by releasing Ash. Deupree defines the conceptual bent across the three EPs as a “life arc,” from exciting new beginnings to the darkness of dealing with life’s challenges. Ash is the harshest of the three, representing the tensions in life through the crackles of “Flashfire,” the sullen murmurations of “Looming Brittle,” to the dissonant fuzzes in “(We Share The) Dust Garden.” 

With Ash, Deupree continues his legacy of challenging listeners, taping into emotional depths, and finding ways to reflect those emotions through innovative sounds and techniques. Ash is out now via Nettwerk.

Listen & Share Taylor Deupree Ash Here:
https://taylordeupree.ffm.to/ash

Taylor Deupree’s decades-spanning career in the world of ambient music is beyond impressive. From founding the seminal and still-influential 12k label, his collaborations with fellow ambient luminaries like Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christopher Willits, and his extensive solo discography spanning myriad moods and sounds, Deupree has spent more than 25 years charting a fascinating and thrilling course in his field. Now, he’s starting a new chapter of his career on Nettwerk with a trilogy of EPs—the already-released Eev and Aer, and the soon-to-come Ash—that serve as a perfect introduction to his deft touch and impeccable ear for sonic texture.

“As much as I want to try to push myself on each new release, with these EPs I felt like I wanted to do something a little more comfortable that would feel like a new introduction to my work,” Deupree explains while discussing these releases, many songs on which date back to 2021 and were initially set aside for a release on 12k. “They’re constantly being tweaked,” he states while talking about his creative process. “I may pull something up from a few years ago and say, ‘There’s something here,’ keep that spark, delete the rest, and begin anew.”

This trilogy wasn’t initially intended as such, but as he crafted them a thread emerged that brought the three EPs together in perfect harmony. When it comes to nomenclature, they fall in line with Deupree’s practice of drawing inspiration from just one word, which will often become the title of the work itself: “Most of my releases are single-word titles,” he explains, “and those words define the mood that I’d like to set the listener in, as well as the mood that I use when I’m working on the music itself.”

Deupree defines the conceptual bent across the three EPs as a “life arc,” and with bright guitar plucks and an emanating warmth, Eev represents dawn’s fresh light right down to the title. “Something new was ahead in my artistic career,” he recalls the feeling while creating the EP’s quietly radiant five tracks. “It was an exciting time. I didn’t know what was going to be on the other side.”

In its creator’s words, Aer represents a “rising up—a feeling of relief, maybe. It represents getting through that unknown stage of not knowing what’s coming. Aer is rising out of that, floating up and feeling a little more positive about things.” This feeling culminates in the stunning 12-minute conclusion “Dissipating,” which features birdsong and ascendant, enveloping tones in a manner that conjures the elevated sighs of late composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s classic 2004 work Virðulegu forsetar.

Opening with frissons of curled static not unlike Tim Hecker’s noise-imbued approach to ambient, Ash is representative of Deupree’s darker and more contemplative side when it comes to life’s challenges, of all sizes. “Life’s not always easy,” he states. “I’ve had some difficult times in the last year myself, personally. Ash represents darkness, and everything falling apart. The insanity of the world was in my head. I think it’s a really difficult time to be alive.”

“Working on Ash was a pessimistic experience because I was thinking of how hard it is to be navigate the world these days,” he continues. “Everything is turning to dust and going to hell—everything that you held dear before.” Ironically, when the label enthused about the inherent darkness in Ash’s sonics, Deupree felt a sense of relief. “I was happy they felt that way,” he admits. “I wasn’t sure if they were as dark as I wanted them to be. I go in with these ideas in my head, but ultimately I write what comes naturally.”

Together, the three EPs represent, in Deupree’s words, “An arc from entering into something unknown and coming out the other side feeling good, to rising out of this darkness and everything crashing down around you.” And with completion of existing arcs, there emerges new beginnings as well: “I’ve been really focused on the future recently—what I’m going to do next,” he states proudly. “It’s scary to try new things, but you want to challenge yourself as well, and I think I’m going to be taking a bit of a left-turn next.” Indeed, these three EPs are proof that Deupree’s partnership with Nettwerk is already fruitful and just getting started.

Track List:

1. Flashfires

2. Looming Brittle

3. The Anthology Of Fragments

4. Recaptures Day

5. (We Share The) Dust Garden