The Tinnitus Chorus

Canadian sound artist and producer Michael Scott Dawson has spent years battling with hearing problems. In the process of making his fourth solo record, it seemed the condition was starting to win, as he struggled to make out the details of his own music over the hisses, whines and buzzes of his ears. So his label, We Are Busy Bodies, offered him an alternative – the chance to adapt his album into a set of collaborations. On ‘Present Day’, experimental jazz player Jairus Sharif lends his saxophone to Dawson’s gentle synth washes and field recordings, running from languorous melody lines to euphoric trills. Korean multi-instrumentalist Dasom Baek lays down spoken passages over gossamer drones. Other guests bring clarinets, steel guitars and flugelhorns to help build this expansive collection of songs, while Dawson’s ambient compositions provide a soft and steady anchor.