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HILA (Hay/High in Los Angeles) is the brainchild of Armenian cellist Artyom Manukyan and Armenian-American producer Dawatile. Their debut album amalgamates their unique talents and influences in an innovative fusion teeming with vitality. LA-beat inspired rhythms provide a solid backbone for varied string timbres and sparse vocals. Eclectic influences including Soviet orchestras, jazz, electronica and Armenian music hang together comfortably. The duo build experimental timbres without obscuring or sacrificing the minimalist aesthetic, allowing the music to breathe.

The opening distorted cello glissando of ‘Perfect Fifth’ is immediately followed by an LA-style beat and crisp rap in a statement of intent. The most obviously Armenian track is ‘KhouanlePins’, as the strings and zurna (shawm) express the overlapping tetrachords of Armenian music. Then, the strings and bloul (flute) of ‘Something on the Ground’ introduce a meditative mood. The cello that starts ‘Glendale Soul Train’ channels expressionist 20th-century composers before wonky jazz rhythms and beepy synths cut through, suggesting the systematic shock represented by the Eastern Bloc's dissolution. A distorted pizzicato cello, drenched in chorus appears in the first and last tracks, bookending the album.