Under the name Saqqara Mastabas, Fiery Furnaces’ Matthew Friedberger has teamed up with Sebadoh’s Bob D’Amico to create music that encapsulates a specific sense of noisy and manic joy. With inspirations ranging from the pyramid-like arrangement of their own compositions to their awe over the spiritual connection between humans and nature, the duo layers improvisation with absurdism to create an experimental landscape of progressive and traditional sounds. There are definitely some free jazz influences in the racing hand drums, intermittent horns, synths, and sporadic rhythm of “Uto On The Upswing,” the lead single from their debut album Libras. But held together by some steadier lightweight bells and flutes, the old avant-garde concepts are made newly approachable by Friedberger and D’Amico’s expertly paired sounds and confident willingness to explore a road less traveled. Listen below.

Libras is out 6/3 on Joyful Noise. Pre-order it here.