Rrose (real name Seth Horvitz) will release their debut solo album, Hymn to Moisture, in November.

Hymn to Moisture explores embodiment in natural phenomena by playing with microtonal and unstable tunings, shifting overtones, and integrated modulations that make it difficult to separate tone from noise. We’re told that the album occupies multiple spaces simultaneously: abrasive and tranquil, propulsive and meditative, familiar and alien.

Rrose’s experiments with sound reflect a long history of working between dance music and avant-garde composition. Prior to recording as Rrose, the artist produced works as Sutekh. Working amongst a tight-knit community of artists and DJs in San Francisco in the late 1990s, Sutekh co-organized a series of weekly club nights and helped to pioneer the emerging “glitch” aesthetic. From 1997-2007, Sutekh released four albums and dozens of EPs with a diverse and experimental take on techno, electro, and house.

In 2008, Sutekh went on hiatus, while Horvitz entered a master’s program in Electronic Music at Mills College to study the history and techniques of the 20th century avant-garde.

In 2011, the Rrose project was born, fusing past lives and present interests. The project has spawned over a dozen vinyl EPs on Sandwell District, Stroboscopic Artefacts, Infrastructure, and their own Eaux label as well as three collaborative albums with Bob Ostertag, Charlemagne Palestine, and Lucy (as Lotus Eater) respectively. A fourth album-length project on Seattle’s Further Records saw Rrose reinterpreting and extending James Tenney’s monolithic 1971 piece “Having Never Written a Note for Percussion” for solo gong.

Hymn to Moisture is Rrose’s first solo album of original material. It’s mastered by Stefan Betke, and features bassoon by LAW 334 (on “Saliva”). Cover imagery comes from mixed media artist Jon-Paul Villegas. It will be out on November 8 on 2×12” LP, CD, and digital formats. Meanwhile, you can stream lead single “Columns” via the player below, and pre-order HERE.

Tracklisting

A1 / 1. Mine
A2 / 2. Bandage
B1 / 3. Columns
B2 / 4. Saliva
C1 / 5. Dissolve
C2 / 6. Horizon
D1 / 7. Open Cell
D2 / 8. Hymn to Moisture