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Soundcloud, Bandcamp embeds available upon request. Email sam@debaclerecords.com

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Release Date

June 4th, 2021

Tracklist

1. Cmaj — (2:47)

2. G9/11sus(b2)/F — (31:15)

3. Fm — (4:040

Format

LP / Digital

Credits

Recorded by Greg Norman in the loving confines of Studio Greg Studios II, Chicago IL
Mastered by Phil Petrocelli
Artwork and Design by Billy Baumann for Delicious Design League
Arrangements composed and executed by Chord

Kyle Benjamin
Phil Dole
Jason Hoffman
Sean McCarthy
Trevor Shelley de Brauw

(c) 2019 Migratory Melodies (ASCAP) / Standard Deviation Music (ASCAP)

Debacle Records
http://www.debaclerecords.com/
DBL109

Chord, the longstanding powerambient collective of Kyle Benjamin (First Responder), Phil Dole (X-Bax, Grand Kali Ma), Jason Hoffman (Anatole, Interactive Network), Sean McCarthy (Underhand, Beaumont), and Trevor Shelley de Brauw (Pelican, RLYR), have returned for their fourth full length Imperfect Authentic Cadence. Their initial shared vision has remained remarkably consistent throughout their tenure: to arrange longform pieces that favor texture and dynamics over elements such as melody, exploiting and exploring the sonic depth of a single chord per composition. Whereas previous albums (Flora, 2009; Progression 2012; GMaj7 2013) were largely improvisational, the new record encompasses a much greater degree of composition and structure, even pulling off an unprecedented chord change (albeit approached *very* gradually). The result is a dense web of slowly unfurling ambience and mood, melancholic and droning, but also uplifting and cleansing at turns.

On the title Imperfect Authentic Cadence from the band:

This recording uses one of the most fundamental chord progressions in Western music. The three pieces on the album comprise a cadence, which is a sequence of chords that brings finality and resolution to a musical phrase, much like a sequence of words forms a concluding sentence that brings closure to a paragraph. The harmonic structure of these compositions demonstrates the intrinsic directionality -- the idea that certain notes in certain contexts have an innate sense of direction, a longing to move somewhere specific-- that lies within tonal music by taking advantage of the V-i progression, also known as the authentic cadence. The dominant chord of F-minor (the tonal center of this album) is technically C-minor, but a stronger resolution is achieved by raising the minor third to a major third, which then doubles as the leading tone of the tonic chord. Thus, the notes in the dominant chord are then either shared by the tonic or are a half-step away thereby guiding the listener inescapably back to the tonal center and completing the cadence. It should be noted, however, that because the final chord of this recording was voiced with the fifth on top and not the root, one of the conditions for a perfect authentic cadence was violated. Therefore, this cadence is imperfect.