Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of Obsolete, the debut album by piano minimalist Memorybell, the ambient project of Grant Hazard Outerbridge. In February 2014, Outerbridge awoke in a hospital with no memory of how he had arrived. He was diagnosed with transient global amnesia, a condition that causes the brain to temporarily stop making new memories. When he returned to the piano, Outerbridge found his previous compositions sounded garish. He pared them down to their essence and, along with new, more spacious material, constructed a set of variegated and subtle songs that explore the interplay between dissonance and silence. Recorded live in a single sitting using just a creaky grand piano and two microphones, Obsolete is as concerned with exploring the spaces between notes as the notes themselves, giving each song room to breathe and encouraging the ear to wander. The percussive qualities of the piano are almost dissolved by the air surrounding each note, leaving an aching space for the tones to resonate.
Obsolete is available now via the Memorybell Bandcamp and all good 3rd party digital stores and streaming services. Obsolete will be launched at a special show in Denver on September 1st. More details on this closer to the date.