Following last October’s album-length collaboration with Dawn Richard, Spencer Zahn has shared “High Touch,” the first taste of his new album Statues II. The second half of Zahn’s two-part Statues release was actually completed before the first, recorded out of his home studio in Kingston, New York. These two collections, Statues I & II, which will arrive as a double-LP on November 17 via Cascine.
Zahn recorded voice memos of his Yamaha CP-70 electric piano, collaborating with Tyler Gilmore (a.k.a. BlankFor.ms) to record slices of the material as tape loops, then sharing them with a network of musicians to explore further. “High Touch” begins with a crunchy, DIY percussive groove that Zahn then accents with twinkling synth, bass melodies, and a dazzling trumpet performance from Spencer Ludwig.
Regarding the track, Zahn says, “‘High Touch’ began as a song that I thought would be good for a singer. It's a love song that is celebratory, triumphant even. It is a dedication much like the entire album. I wrote the chords on a Fender Rhodes and then added a Yamaha CP70 and CS50 to build up the harmony. Once that sound started to come together it felt more like a Jon Hassell recording than a song for a vocalist.
“Spencer Ludwig was staying at the house for a weekend so I asked him to play trumpet on it and we immediately found the identity of the song,” he continues. “With the doubling of soprano saxophone by Chris Bullock, drums by Booker Stardrum, and additional drum programming and production by Tyler Gilmore, this became one of my favorite songs on the album.”
Check out the “High Touch” visualizer below, or stream the track here.
