Thollem provides solace to those fighting the good fight with his new song “Heal Ourselves,” off the musician’s newest sonic collection entitled Hot Pursuit of Happiness 2020 #1 out now digitally via Bandcamp. While the 2016 election cycle saw the mostly itinerate musician and his videographer partner ACVilla traveling the political landscape of America in pursuit of their audio/visual project Who Are U.S., conditions have temporarily grounded the classically trained keyboardist. Luckily, that has provided the artist with more time to explore new avenues into his music.
Thollem’s recent work using the Korg Wavestate and Jupiter X(m), as heard on Electric Confluences 2 and 3 out earlier this year, remains at the forefront of his performance set-up on the new album. Likening his experience with the synthesizers to a process of collaboration, the instruments have allowed the musician to add elements like rhythm and bass to his live recording process. The result is a new level of artistry that finds musician and machine seemingly fused as a single performative entity.
Hot Pursuit of Happiness 2020 #1 includes a number of tracks from the musician’s vast back catalog, but here they are reimagined with the Jupiter X(m) and Korg Wavestate leading the way. The result is a synth-driven, beat-based pop approach imbued with Thollem’s radically free creative style; though he is quick to point out, “I probably spent 400 hours composing, recording, editing, mixing and then 1001 vocal overdubs.”
While tracks like “Here Comes the World” and “Make Some More Friends” (formerly “Zero Bottles of Beer” from the Personal Archives release Always Put On Your Sincere Face) might be familiar to fans, “Heal Ourselves” is a brand new song. Civic duty and the Nation’s health, particularly the state of Democracy in 2020, take center stage on the cut. Thollem’s music, a seamless mix of the blues, jazz, protest music, punk rock, and now pop, has always been animated by this fundamental concern. Groovy and laid back, with warm production that leaps off the recording, on “Heal Ourselves” the artist delivers pointed vocals meant to wake us from the nightmare of these past four years.
