Rae
Internal Volume
Self Released

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One challenge of life over the past few months of the global pandemic has been finding ways to navigate through the noise and uncertainty of everyday life, to stay grounded and focused on a constant. It is an almost daily quest to sift through the unceasing stimuli of human existence in 2020 to find a place to calm the mind and capture the increasingly nervous energy permeating our collective realities. Fitting, in this context, for local avant-jazz trio, Rae, to put out their first album, the self-released Internal Volume. The individuals of Rae have not only an academic understanding of jazz, but also a deep emotional and instinctual relationship with the artform. Working as a unit, bassist Abbey Blackwell, guitarist Ronan Delisle, and drummer Evan Woodle give an examination of atmospheric quietude centered within a context of complex disjointedness.

Each track on Internal Volume is identified by a number instead of a name. For example, the seventh track on the album is “03”, the fourth track is “15,” and so on. This allows for the listener to interpret the music based not on clues gleaned by song titles in the traditional sense, but instead through free association based on the soundscapes the music itself creates. On first listen the collection of songs presents a nervous, pensive atmosphere. The steady, measured bass serves as a counterpoint to the rolling, snare-heavy drums, creating a polyrhythm that pulls in many directions, while the guitar speaks over the percussive foundation, playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the listener. However, once the motif is snagged a world of different images and emotions is unraveled.

The ability of the members of Rae to play off each other and move toward a deeply textured, multifaceted, unified whole is undeniable. Rae guides us on their musical journey through their varied twists and turns, presenting new paths and valleys, allowing space for us to create new meaning along the way. The music is itself an aural representation of calm amidst chaos. Internal Volume exhorts the listener to listen to the chaos inside and orient the self toward a steady calm. –Grant Grays