File under evolutionary leaps: Hume—-a prog-pop band that this blog has followed very closely—-left D.C. last summer for a 100-acre property in Argyle, N.Y. There, the four members played music all day, every day, and otherwise lived communally and “holistically,” drummer Wilson Kemp said at the time: “We made great creative strides in a pretty finite amount of time.” Wilson promised the new material was tighter and more concise—-no more 14-minute space explorations, I took that to mean—-but also much more layered. Over the weekend, the band uploaded the first product of that session, “Phasing,” and: yup.

Frontman Britton Powell writes:

“Phasing” is the first fully-realized track we’ve shared from our
summer recording sojourn in upstate NY. We started with improvised grooves, tracked them on reel to reel, arranged them for the record and rearranged them for live performance, all in isolation on a hundred acre farm. We then fine-tuned them as the songs shape shifted throughout our three month tour this past fall. Since returning to DC, we’ve been revisiting all the previously recorded material from this summer’s sessions. We’ve been putting the raw tracks under the microscope of mixing and production, trying to apply a unique tint to the lens of each song, embellishing when necessary to push specific vibes. The results have been excitingly different from the live set we’ve gotten used to. We’ve been relishing these slower winter days for all the meticulous processing needed to rein in our summer’s energy.This track in particular is highly influenced by Henry Flynt, Nico, Perry & Kingsley, and Steve Reich.

Yeah, so the track is totally seeped in bong water, but it’s also remarkably controlled despite what first feels like blissed out formlessness. On Bandcamp, the song is tagged as both “music concrete” and “pop.” Might as well just call it pop concrète.

“Phasing” will appear on a 12-inch this spring, with one more original track and remixes from Doldrums, Dustin Wong (of Ponytail), and Aaron Leitko (of Protect-U).

Listen to “Phasing”: