Six Organs of Admittance’s recent output has been a fascinating exercise in relinquished control, as Ben Chasny spread the word of his Hexadic system of musical composition by creating two albums according to its principles. Now, for the first time since 2012’s Ascent, Chasny is restoring his authorship of Six Organs of Admittance, and Drag City will be releasing the brand new full length record Burning The Threshold on February 24th (2017) – and to mark the occasion, there will be a special show at London’s St Pancras Old Church on 22nd of February.
As ever, a head full of ideas were driving Chasny to think and speak music as a spirituality superimposed onto a reality, with the ghosts of both whispering at each other. In the end, what sits in our listening ears is the sound of communion. Nobody plays acoustic music quite like Six Organs of Admittance, and Burning the Threshold brings a wealth of his established lightness into one of his sweetest musical meditations yet.
Ben is in a particularly expansive mood this time around, singing and playing with all the thoughts affixed to a quiver of potent melodies launching forth and arcing out through dimensions, seeking infinite space. This space radiates out from the album’s first single, “Taken By Ascent”, a seven minute plus burner that engulfs the surrounding realm with empathetic waves. Featuring resounding vocals by Hayley Fohr, polished drumming provided by Chris Corsano and flourishing keys by Cooper Crain; “Taken By Ascent” fervidly pushes Six Organs of Admittance into new and thrilling territory.
With this new music, Ben Chasny has created a potent tonic for our times. Looking at the world through clear eyes beneath a knitted brow, but with a laugh rising up from its heart, Burning the Threshold brings us a powerful draught of essence.
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