Having muddled through the indeterminate and isolated reality of the year 2020, The Evolution of the Arm found themselves at the dawn of 2021, longing for a way to connect musically while preparing logistically for the release of their first record, Sounds Like. Tired of meeting endlessly on Zoom and teaching music lessons riddled with poor internet connection and inherent time lag, pianist Michael McNeill proposed instead that they meet on the astral plane. The concept was simple: telepathy is instantaneous, it has no latency! Decide on a date, select a start and end time, and record individually, unable to see or hear each other on the physical plane. Something interdimensional happens each time, but the players don’t know what until later, when they hear their four individual recordings combined.
This album is the second in their series of Telepathic Music releases. It lives in a wormhole between the known and the unknown, where the attitude of listening transcends the physical space between us.
For complete credits and liner notes, download the Telepathic Music Vol. 2 booklet.
Read more about the band’s practice of telepathic improvisation in the interview, “Encounters on the Astral Plane: A discussion with The Evolution of the Arm”.