Oval: “Drift (feat. Agustín Albrieu)” (Voa, 2013)

Oval’s last full-length was released in 2013, self-released and featuring numerous vocal collaborations that feel like a natural evolution of his series of spry free-jazz-tinged releases that peppered 2010-2011 and a companion to the South American vocal collaborations of Calidostópia! that preceded in 2013. This opener is the most haunting to me, and it sets the tone well. Oval’s next album, cleverly named Popp after its creator Markus Popp and no doubt a play on words, is due out later this week. The preview track “my” that I’ve heard on Spotify is intriguing, and it seems like Popp might be finally returning to flirt with more musical sounds and beatmaking in a new way, bringing the project full circle to revisit some of the more musical and song-like aspects of Oval’s first album in 1993, Wohnton.