In the five years it took Tashi Wada to make “What Is Not Strange?”, his father, composer Yoshi Wada, died and he had a child with his partner, musician Julia Holter. After Tashi Wada’s solo debut “Duets” in 2014, this is the musician’s second album under his own name. In 2018, he released the album “Nue” with his father as Tashi Wada With Yoshi Wada and Friends. The artists involved, Julia Holter and percussionist Corey Fogel, are also back on “What Is Not Strange?”. They are joined by violinist Ezra Buchla and bassist Devon Hoff.
The music has changed considerably since “Duets” and its reduced cello drone studies—Tashi Wada studied with microtonal music pioneer James Tenney. This time he presents pieces that pass for extended song formats, carried by Holter’s vocals. Microtonality based on drones is still present, as in the simmering “Under the Earth”, but the sonic palette has been greatly expanded, with a preference for harpsichord and organ sounds. In addition, Tashi Wada is particularly concerned with the transitions between forms of expression, sometimes, as in “Time of Birds”, he ends up with a kind of drone song. The whole thing is an opening to the open, a letting go in which conceptual rigour is neglected in favour of surprises in unexplored territory. There is something beautifully frayed and strange about it.