Therapy

Brendan Eder is a Los Angeles composer and drummer best-known for his eponymous genre-bending ensemble of woodwinds, drumset, and bass; as well as his film scoring work, most notably on four short films for director Ari Aster. On March 3, 2023 Eder releases his third album, Therapy: a collection of meditative woodwind arrangements recorded primarily at Church of the Good Shepherd in Arcadia, California. Following 2021’s Cape Cod Cottage — Eder’s concept album under the guise of Edward Blankman, a retired dentist in the 1970s, which added elegant, understated jazz to the ensembles' repertoire — on Therapy, Eder drops the alter ego and the drumset (almost entirely) and begins with a new directive: What would ambient mastermind Richard D. James do with a chamber ensemble and a church organ? It was a question Eder had started to ask in 2020 with his cover of “#20 (Lichen).” Listeners responded with over one million streams. Appropriately, Therapy delivers two new Aphex Twin arrangements alongside eight original pieces. The result is a distinctive take on New Age and ambient music subtly interwoven with Eder’s affinity for 20th century classical and jazz. The quest for Therapy came during a period of deep spiritual curiosity. Eder was avidly watching testimonies of near death experience survivors (NDEs), pouring over books of Theosophical artwork and philosophy, and processing experiences of grief, uncertainty and spirituality. He wanted to explore the threshold between the spiritual and physical dimensions, and create music that could evoke its shape and texture — a theme further illustrated in the original album artwork and single covers by Adam Rabinowitz. Eder felt he must be on to something when, on a whim, he looked up the tempo of a piece he was calling “137 Riddle.” Turned out to be “the most important number in the world” in theoretical physics, as well as a provocative number in Jewish mysticism. Maintaining his track record of recording the best musicians Eder can find, Therapy features special guests Nailah Hunter (harp), Henry Solomon (saxophone), and Ethan Haman on The Newberry Memorial Organ at Yale University. - Rebeca Arango