A Song For Friday: Jan Esbra
Lush and playful electronic textures from the Colombian guitarist and composer
Jan Esbra is a humble man. I know this because I regularly communicate with him in his role as Communications And PR Coordinator for New Amsterdam records. We shoot emails back and forth about new releases on the label, my requests to include them on my podcast, and other matters. But between all of that, he never once told me about his own music or Suspended In A Breath, the new album released today as part of Phantom Limb’s Spirituals series. I heard about it exactly how I learned of excellent albums by Dylan Henner, Ibbukun Sunday, Dau, and others: via an email from Phantom Limb’s James Vella.
Over nine brief tracks, Esbra explores a variety of textures and moods, building up layers from guitars, Organelle, and loop pedals, then processing them to create expressive soundscapes. The germ of the project lies in a practice he began in 2023, taking time each day to make ambient music. Of the results, he had this to say in the liner notes:
“This music reflects some of the intensity of that period and its accompanying emotional textures. It was imprinted with an emotional fingerprint of sorts, and a lot of those sounds felt very relevant to the shifting and growing I underwent.”
Why not trace some shifting and growing yourself through the deliciously immersive burbles and gentle propulsion of Crystal Bubbles, the album’s third track? I also doubt you’ll be able to resist the charms of Ellie Moonan’s animation in the video!
Suspended In A Breath is both a wonderful introduction to Esbra’s art and a glorious entry in the continuum of the Spirituals series. I suggest you catch up with all of it at your earliest opportunity. Speaking of catching up, I need to dive deeper into Vella’s latest release as A Lily, Saru I-Qamar, which is also a spiritual experience.
Press play on (nearly) all the A Song For Friday tracks here or below.
From the archives:
Record Roundup: 2024 Electronic In Focus
Best Of 2023: Electronic
Note: The graphic above is based on a photo by Addie Vogt.