Molly Joyce – State Change

Molly Joyce — the acclaimed composer and performer navigating the perceived limits of disability throughout her work — shares the new single “August 6, 1999” and announces her forthcoming album State Change, due July 11 via  Better Company Records in North America and FatCat Records’ 130701 imprint ROW.

Blending influences ranging from the 20th century modernist, minimalist lineage of Philip Glass or Steve Reich, to the spectral drones of Andy Stott, Missy Mazzoli, and Nico Muhly, State Change draws unflinchingly from the medical record of a childhood trauma for seven electro-acoustic tone poems — stark and oppressive in its medical aesthetic, yet ultimately cathartic and healing. Joyce crafted the album with Grammy-winning producer William Brittelle (Justin Vernon, Druan Duran, Dirty Projectors, Oneohtrix Point Never, Wye Oakl).

“August 6, 1999” opens with something that sounds like a flatline, although we know that the subject at hand (Joyce herself) is now thriving. On the date of the song title, she was in a car crash that would lead to years of reconstructive surgeries at varying success to her left hand. The dates across the album mark further medical interventions. Her mother, a physician, had saved the operative reports — most of them clinical, but some unexpectedly emotional. One described her as “this poor little girl.” That line stuck, though less of a pity point and more of deeply interesting material to work with.

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