Polyrhythmics "Filter System" [Clear Vinyl]

Polyrhythmics Return With Anticipated New Album, FILTER SYSTEM out NOW!

For the Pacific Northwest powerhouse, Polyrhythmics, the process of democratic songwriting and song rearranging is known as the “Filter System.” It’s a regimen that led the band to creating its latest LP. The story of that album begins during the pandemic when the band was pushed into finding new ways to write music. Without the road to test songs, with reality shifting, they wrote the tunes that would become the gripping album.

“When I listen to this music I feel comforted and excited at the same time,” says saxophonist Art Brown of Filter System. “I really feel like we've created some beautiful musical spaces that can transport you. And in that way I think it can provide a source of inspiration, and maybe revitalize the hearts and minds of folks who listen.”

The band’s new album is a truly cohesive collection. The members, who have worked and written together for a decade, brought their own personal influences to the process to create a seamless jigsaw puzzle of sound. Filter System is the latest release from the Seattle-born band since the group dropped the full length Man From the Future and the companion EP Fondue Party in 2020. And the new ten-track LP is a deep groove. Part-party starter, part-mood setter, it’s the kind of record that will likely be sampled by DJs for decades to come.

“If you sat in our van for countless hours like we have and heard who plays what when driving, it would be apparent how diverse our musical interests are,” says trombonist Elijah Clark. “Grant might play some Slum Village, Art could take us into the more ‘straight ahead’ jazz, I'm definitely going to be blasting Havana d'Primera, and Ben is going to force us to listen to some live Grateful Dead. It feels inescapable that all these things will come together.”

The newest single “Funky Miracle” is a mood made in sensual musical colors. It’s sonic purple satin sheets, blue moon coming in through the pearl white curtains. Lead guitarist Ben Bloom’s staccato riffs resemble blinking stars, and the bed of sound is inviting. The plot thickens with saxophonist Art Brown’s solo and Nathan Spicer’s keys that sound like a young Dr. Dre making beats next door through the silver-dim walls. Everything becomes harmony as Scott Morning, Elijah Clark and Brown coo away the evening with their golden horns.

The first single, “Roller,” is like a daring film score disguised as a debut track. Lead guitarist Ben Bloom zips a Ferrari down a narrow mountain road. Deep pocket bassist Jason Gray laughs as guards take someone away during a poker game. The band’s horn section portends adventure in the City of Sin. Drummer Grant Schroff jumps from building to building. It’s the sound of a Hollywood fairytale told in three minutes. It’s a tuxedo and a red rose. Hand-to-hand combat in the desert before the plane swoops overhead. It’s all that in music.

For Polyrhythmics, it’s all about the songs they write together—yes. But in another way, it’s even more about people moving in a room while hearing them. It’s why the band works so hard to distill the tracks into their most savory. Whether it’s one person in a kitchen or a 5,000 in a packed dance hall, it’s about shaking out the ghosts.
Says guitarist Ben Bloom, “We have a love affair with making people move their bodies and the music we’ve been creating lately absolutely reflects that.”