“Phi-Psonics is a spiritual exploration of being together and connecting,” says acoustic bassist Seth Ford-Young of the immersive project he initiated in East Los Angeles in 2016. For his third long-player under the Phi-Psonics banner, Ford-Young marshalled a series of live recordings at the Healing Force Of The Universe record store in Pasadena, sculpting fourteen tracks, largely composed in the moment with a fluctuating cast of players, which wonderfully transmit his ideals of community and inner peace.

“We live in increasingly dark times and while I intend our music to be a balm to those who connect with it, I also want the context of our musical conversations to include the outer as much as our inner worlds.”

 Called ‘Expanding To One’, it features exquisitely calming yet searching pieces like ‘There’s Still Hope’, where Seth’s softly undulating bassline underpins beatific explorations from core Phi-Psonics members, Sylvain Carton and Randal Fisher (both on saxophone), and Josh Collazo (drums), alongside guests Zach Tenorio (Wurlitzer piano) and Mathias Künzli (percussion). Equally sublime, ‘Healing Time’ ripples like a mountain stream, with Ford-Young, Carton, Fisher and Tenorio joined by Minta Spencer (harp), Dylan Day (guitar) and, on drums/percussion, Jay Bellerose, a revered LA stickman most recently under the spotlight in Jeff Parker ETA IVtet. 

 Across the fourteen tracks from the six separate sessions, there are eleven additional personnel above and beyond the quartet that featured on ‘Octava’ and the band’s debut ‘The Cradle’. Ford-Young, Carton, and Collazo joined Mitchell Yoshida (Wurlitzer piano) on those albums, which were more compositional and recorded at Seth’s home studio. While, in Seth’s words….

 “Expanding To One represents a new approach to album making for Phi-Psonics. For our third album I knew I wanted to expand our palette of sounds, emotions, and personalities. I also knew I wanted to invite a freer, more improvisational approach, which made sense to record live with an audience. “

  The audiences on each night, he says, were “an intentional listening crowd”, seated on beanbags, eyes closed, drifting with the gentle tides of the music. Experiencing ‘Expanding To One’ in the comfort of their own home, listeners can now share in that moment, and immerse themselves in the gentle beauty of Phi-Psonics musical world.