Solidum by William Ryan Fritch

Solidum, is an album of unexpected stillness and negative space from William Ryan Fritch, a composer most known for his lush, dense arrangements that teem with a raw kinetic sense of energy.

Typical Fritch records are chock-full of hyper-textural sound, where mechanical noise and small idiosyncrasies of each instrument become an integral part of the music’s character. By contrast, Solidum uses a colder and more rounded sound palette that relies on PZM and boundary mics to capture the upright piano, cello, violin, and harp bowed with rosined fishing line and blend them with digital piano and A Roland JX-3p. This gives the muted acoustics an unnatural smoothness and a pitchy quaver that makes the listener question what is synthesized and what is not. The creative impetus was to see what sense of emotionality and sincerity could be achieved without relying on Fritch’s familiar aesthetic of tactile and vulnerable sounds.

The title Solidum comes from the Latin phrase “in Solidum,” meaning “for the whole.” It’s a mentality that must somehow prevail, at a time when there is less of a sense of closeness than there has been at any point in recent memory.

Many works of art have been made amidst this pandemic and it’s been fascinating seeing how artists have translated the experiences of heightened uncertainty, loneliness and longing for connection. Solidum is Fritch’s one search for connection and deepened empathy in a world where touch and closeness has been so cruelly taken away from our means of showing love.

Tracklist

1.	Movement I	1:42

2.	Movement II	5:27

3.	Movement III	3:30

4.	Movement IV	3:32

5.	Movement V	2:48

6.	Movement VI	4:13

7.	Movement VII	2:37

8.	Movement VIII	2:11

9.	Movement IX	3:38

10.	Movement X	1:26

11.	Movement XI	3:16

12.	Movement XII	3:30

13.	Movement XIII	2:42

14.	Movement XIV	2:02

15.	Movement XV	2:13

16.	Movement XVI	3:46

17.	Movement XVII	4:18

18.	Movement XVIII	4:24

19.	Movement XIX	4:19

20.	Movement XX	3:07

21.	Movement XXI	2:14

Credits

released December 4, 2020

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Originally released on Lost Tribe Sound. See Catalog: losttribesound.bandcamp.com
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BEST AMBIENT OF 2020 - LOW LIGHT MIXES

BEST AMBIENT OF 2020 (Honorable Mention) - POST AMBIENT LUX

BEST ALBUMS OF 2020 - INDIE ROCK MAG

BEST OF 2020 - "Possibly the closest thing I have heard from him that approaches a Modern Classical framework, the album enhances his reputation as an artist that has a strong grasp of the cinematic approach to music which makes him a sought after film/tv/advertising composer." - DRIFTING, ALMOST FALLING

BEST MUSIC OF 2020 - IRREGULAR DREAMS

BEST AMBIENT OF 2020 - SOULGURU

"Fritch has always been a musical innovator, and Solidum continues this trend in fine fashion. It’s colder, sleeker, and feels more disciplined than anything else, thanks mostly to its reserved mood." - (James Catchpole) FLUID RADIO

"Not only does Fritch work by subtraction on an ensemble of strings, harp and staid piano notes, but through digital synthesis he obtains a palette of suspended, imposing fragility." - (translated from Italian) MUSIC WON'T SAVE YOU

"Fritch knows how to surprise again and again, and in a fascinating and beautiful way!" - (translated from Dutch) (JW BROEK) DE SUBJECTIVISEN

"a fragile and personal album, deeply emotive, tender, and kind" - HEADPHONE COMMUTE

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Total run time: 67 minutes

All music written and recorded by William Ryan Fritch
Artwork by Dorota Jedrusik
Layout and Design by R. Keane
© Lost Tribe Sound LLC / William Ryan Fritch
℗ Settled Scores LLC (ASCAP)

License