Slauson Malone 1 (formerly Slauson Malone) — the musical act of interdisciplinary artist Jasper Marsalis — is unpredictable to say the least. Marsalis started his musical career as a producer and musician of the New York-based experimental jazz collective Standing on the Corner. His debut solo album “A Quiet Farwell, 2016-2018 (Crater Speak),” combines an eclectic variety of samples into a cohesive yet diverse soundscape.
Marsalis’ 2020 work “Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak)” further expands on the sonic universe of Slauson Malone 1, featuring acoustic rearrangements of cuts from “A Quiet Farwell” and vocal performances from Marsalis reminiscent of Frank Ocean. The final installment of the “Crater Speak” series, “for Star (Crater Speak),” is the sparsest of the three, featuring only two reinterpretations of songs from “AQF” that venture into a more abstract, dark ambient realm, a stark contrast from Marsalis’s previous works.
Five years in the making, “Excelsior” is Slauson Malone 1’s most ambitious work to date. Not straying away from Marsalis’s tradition of switching up his sound, the 18-track album features a wide array of genre-bending tracks. Influences of dub, free jazz and electronic music are all prevalent throughout the album. Despite their wide-ranging differences, the tracks retain a deep sense of interconnectedness and flow.
The distorted and looping synth that comprises the instrumental of the opening track “The Weather” carries on as a recurring motif in the track “House Music,” a cut that features several sonic vignettes within one song. The melodies from “Voyager,” the first single released before the album, continue in the next two tracks, “Divider” and “Challenger,” strengthening the album’s cohesion.
The experimentation on “Excelsior” makes it a wholly unique listening experience. The album’s oneness is evident from the opening song, “The Weather,” which features a looping instrumental that crescendos and decrescendos throughout, going from blaring distortion to near silence in seconds. “Love Letter Zzz” is another standout. The instrumental features a deep, foreboding cello played by Nicholas John – a frequent collaborator with Marsalis – which eventually transforms into a synth sound, blurring the lines between the electronic and acoustic elements of the song. On top of the dark toned instrumental, Marsalis whispers a poem about obsession and desire for someone, the soft tone of voice emphasizing the intimacy of such a topic.
A cover of Joe Meek’s 1991 track by the same name, “I Hear a New World” is a psychedelic experience. A high-pitched, squeaky chorus that sounds like it is comprised of extra-terrestrial beings sings: “I hear a new world / haunting me,” giving the track a horror-element. This thematic motif pops up in other songs, like the aforementioned “Love Letter Zzz” or “Fission for Drums, Piano & Voice.”
Even with its harsh, distorted and experimental nature, “Excelsior” is filled with moments of musical beauty. The string section at the end of “Decades, Castle Romeo” is breathtaking. It is a lush melody that swells up and then slowly and dissonantly fades out as the song ends. The soft but compelling piano on “Destroyer X” is another touching moment on the album. Backed by a hypnotic guitar riff, the falsetto vocal performance on “Arms, Armor” is moving, as Marsalis repeatedly sings out, “won’t you hold me closer to your arms / to hear your heart.”
Some songs feel funk-inspired: “New Joy” and “Half-Life,” the second and third singles of the album respectively, feature verses underscored by groovy basslines and head-nodding rhythms, reminiscent of a King Krule track. “No! (Geiger Dub)” is another futuristic and otherworldly take on dub, a genre popularized in the 1960s.
Slauson Malone 1’s “Excelsior” is a unique listening experience. Influenced by an eclectic mix of musicians, performance artists, and filmmakers, Marsalis has created something that is completely himself while still diverging from his previous works. An album that he states is about growth, Slauson Malone 1 certainly does that on ”Excelsior.” The anticipation for the next evolution of Jasper Marsalis, whether it be in performance, music, visual arts or elsewhere, only grows stronger with this release.
Luke Macannuco can be reached at [email protected].
