Daniel Mayer’s ‘Matters Traces of Codes from Afar’ Available Now on Cero

Daniel Mayer’s new album Matters Traces of Codes from Afar is out now on the Spanish label Cero. It gathers ten pieces, titled simply “Matters 1” through “Matters 10,” built from static, abrasive frequencies, and distorted non-rhythms. The construction works with sounds that might otherwise be discarded as errors, pulling unfamiliar forms into focus.

A binaural version runs through the whole record, mixed specifically for headphone listening. Liner notes explain that “in the Binaural coding system, sound is conditioned so that through headphones a 3D perception of music is generated.” The effect is disorienting. Scraping details and gestures that feel both explosive and restrained move across the stereo field with a depth that is hard to pin down.

Each track shares a vocabulary of rust and static but follows its own path. “Matters 3” sinks into industrial capsules and corroded bleeps, its logic getting more tangled as it goes. “Matters 8” shifts from the sound of a massive structure on the verge of collapse to a spare, hypnotic synthesizer thread. By the final piece, refracted voice-like exchanges splinter into shards of pulse and transmission.

Mayer’s own words keep the whole thing grounded: “Music can grasp things we couldn’t grasp in words. Code can grasp music we couldn’t grasp otherwise.” A statement accompanying the release adds that every musical work traces developments of its cultural environment, its creator, and itself. Matters Traces of Codes from Afar is available now.