Ben Seretan caught a lot of people’s attention with last year’s Youth Pastoral, an album of expansive, melancholic indie rock songs grappling with the faith that once animated his teenage life. For his next release he’s switching away from song-based recording in favor of improvised piano instrumentals. Seretan wrote his upcoming Cicada Waves “during an artist residency in the thick of the pandemic, tucked away in a dance studio at the base of the Appalachian mountains,” where he found himself alone with an antique Steinway piano for two weeks. The album contains seven tracks, which he’ll roll out one per week leading up to the album’s release at the end of April.

The first is closer “Fog Rolls Out Rabun Gap.” In the song’s YouTube description, Seretan calls Cicada Waves “a collection of improvised piano and encountered sound from the verdant and riotous summer woods of the Georgian Appalachians.” A quote from the album bio on Bandcamp elaborates, “It was clear the moment I hit ‘record’ that any sound I captured from the piano would always carry some other sound with it. There would be no silence whatsoever. So I gave in — I threw open the windows and let the world in.”

One listen to the track will make it clear what he means. Chirping wildlife and a rushing stream become a monumental backdrop for Seretan’s wide-open, deeply reflective playing. It’s just marvelously beautiful, so check it out below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Cicada Waves 1”
02 “3pm Rainstorm”
03 “Cicada Waves 2”
04 “Rain And Cicadas”
05 “11pm Sudden Thunderstorm”
06 “8pm Crickets”
07 “Fog Rolls Out Rabun Gap”

Cicada Waves is out 4/30 on NNA Tapes. Pre-order it here. Its release supposedly coincides with the every-17-years arrival of the Brood X cicada.