Embrace Form showcases the gripping jazz fusion sound of Joan Torres’s All Is Fused. The album is described as exploring “the relationship between experimental instrumental music and popular music.” The San Francisco-based project channels a stylistically eclectic charm on a consistent basis here, from lounge-friendly jazz to hard-rocking fervency — in addition to various structural pursuits, in both the conventional verse-chorus and improvisational realms.
Opening track “Cotati Reset” enthralls in its climactic development, weaving in warming brass, pit-pattering percussion, and gentle guitar whispers; the result is tranquilly compelling. “Unexpectations” follows with a perkier charisma, quickly injecting jazzy guitar vibrancy and lounge-friendly piano alongside vibrant percussion. The more sporadic bursts of instrumentation evolve into a free-flowing piano-driven glistening in the last section, showcasing the project’s dynamic tonal chops.
Another highlight, “No Voices Lost” brilliantly fuses debonair rock allure and brass-ready jazz. Brightly melodic guitar work takes hold alongside steady piano pulses and playful bass. The smooth, airy tranquility of “Caribbean Mountains” follows, while the comparably introspective “Crystalline” closes the album with a lush entrancement. Embrace Form continues a strong string of releases for Joan Torres’s All Is Fused.
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“Unexpectations” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
