These days, former Medications drummer Andrew Becker is at the helm of a solo project called Human Potential and is gearing up to release his third album under the name. Before Becker unveils Hot Gun Western City in July, today he’s shared the opening track “Apparitioning.” With an instant steely bang on the drum the song launches into booming, building heights. Once things get going the blasting percussion is layered under shimmery synths and experimental tones. The track fades in and out between soothing and writhing and feels different after every listen.

Becker had this to say about the song’s fruition:

Most, if not all, Human Potential songs have their origins rooted in a guitar or keyboard/synthesizer part. “Apparitioning” was a conscious effort to invert that tradition — to create a song from the ground up, based solely on drums. I wanted the foundational beat to be fairly simple, so that I could compose percussion parts around, in-between and on top of that rhythm. The references that I kept coming back to were Bowie’s “Modern Love,” The Fall’s “Oh! Brother”… and perhaps more than anything, “Yü-Gung” by Einstürzende Neubauten… basically, I wanted to transpose that template into a pop song format.

This is one that you’ll wanna play loud. Listen below, where you can also find Hot Gun Western City’s seven-minute title track.

Tracklist:

01 “Appartioning”
02 “Nearly Nines”
03 “Wayfare Radio”
04 “Majestic Park Training”
05 “Notes From The Moon Factory Parking Lot”
06 “Hot Gun Western City”
07 “Moses on the Sentry Box”
08 “Too Early For Tomorrow”
09 “Guilder”

Hot Gun Western City is out 7/21 via Becker’s own What Delicate Recordings. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Andrew Becker