Dis Fig – Psaltery

Today, Dis Fig shares “Psaltery,” the second single from her long-awaited second solo album, What To Make Of These Mortal Hands, out October 23 via Thrill Jockey.

Following lead single “The Account,” which caught the attention of The Guardian, Resident Advisor, The Line of Best Fit, The Quietus, and many others, “Psaltery” is named for the zither instrument the Berlin-based, New Jersey-raised producer and vocalist Felicia Chen picked up while on tour. “The psaltery is interesting, it’s not an instrument I’ve had the chance to see anyone else playing,” she says. “You’re supposed to bow it, but I don’t really like the way that sounds. I love picking up instruments with no intention of perfecting them, and finding my own way of tuning it and finessing it.” The track opens with Chen reverently strumming the ancient string instrument alongside her crystalline, diaphanous voice before sub-bass gradually edges into the frame and the song erupts into some of her most exhilarating terrain yet, awash in sub-frequencies, distortion, and electronics.

Following her acclaimed 2019 debut PURGE and celebrated collaborations with The Bug, The Body, and Asian Dope Boys, What To Make Of These Mortal Hands marks Chen’s first album in seven years and an ambitious evolution of Dis Fig’s artistic vision. Across its 63-minute runtime, the album moves through tectonic dynamic shifts and heartrending arrangements in a filmic exploration of humanity’s capacity for both beauty and devastation. Structured as a series of interconnected scenes, What To Make Of These Mortal Hands finds Chen reckoning with the destructive tragedies and revelatory marvels of human existence.

While the album is almost entirely written and performed by Chen, she draws on a close circle of collaborators to help shape its world: guitar from Will Ballantyne (Anti-God Hand, City & i.o), strings from Diana Miron, recorded drums from Lee Buford of The Body, and a guest bass appearance from Liam Andrews of BIG|BRAVE on one track, alongside vocal features from the wind between and LUηG.

What To Make Of These Mortal Hands charts a cinematic arc through a complex web of feeling, with Chen’s curiosity unearthing ecstatic and absorbing environments along the way. The result is a staggering display of innovative songcraft and raw emotion, a musical world entirely her own.

Following a sold-out show earlier this month at Berlin’s Neue Zukunft as part of CTM Festival, sharing the bill with Pacific Northwest metal duo Ragana, Dis Fig will next bring her exhilarating live performance to Pop-Kultur Festival on Saturday, August 29.

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