Megadrought, the latest album from composer Devin Maxwell, is ambitious enough on its own, but the fact that it is the third of four planned releases makes the scope of Maxwell’s musical imagination seem infinitely wider. The four albums – the first two being Timebending (2024) and Selfies (2025) – are part of Maxwell’s “Cloudseeding” series, an irreverent take on the real or imagined processes we use to attempt to control the weather. Even without the conceptual context, however, the music is striking, dramatic, and unique.
The word “cloudseeding” refers to a weather modification process in which silver iodide is used to boost precipitation, thereby causing rain. In an attempt to transform this process into music, Maxwell has included five separate “Cloudseeding” pieces in Megadrought. The first, “Cloudseeding 10”, was written for and performed by the TriBeCa Ensemble – Jesse Massey and Julie Beistline on violin, Devan Freebairn on viola, and Audrey Hudgens on cello.
The ten-minute piece moves through a variety of moods and tempi, but the emphasis seems to be on a sense of urgency, reminiscent of Bartok at his most deliberate. The strings move fast and furious, but also take languid turns where the strings bend in sustained unison. The viola, according to the press notes, “takes a moral stance on the issue and by the end of the composition, [and] refuses to participate any longer.”
Megadrought takes a distinct stylistic turn after the first track, and the four remaining pieces feature Maxwell on electronics, joined by solo musicians. “Cloudseeding 15” pairs Maxwell with Nicolee Kuester on horn samples, as the brass and the synthetics weave around each other in sustaining, droning soundscapes that bring to life “cloudstreak holes”, created when planes pass through clouds.
With “Cloudseeding 11”, Maxwell collaborates with cellist Noriko Kishi, whose instrument dances and writhes manically around the steady wash of electronics, representing what Maxwell refers to as “a cloud that does not want to be seeded and the kind of reconciliation that needs to happen when a forced transformation is inevitable”. The result goes beyond musicality and creates something cinematic. “Cloudseeding 14” features guitarist D.J. Sparr, starting with simple, direct guitar notes that are soon swallowed up in reverb and effects, creating a playful atmosphere that perhaps echoes the naivete of the subject. The track is dedicated to Maxwell’s son, looking for some kind of compromise as he wishes for a snow day.
The album concludes with the gorgeous, multifaceted “Cloudseeding 13”, featuring Jacqueline Kerrod on harp. As with the previous track, this one mines all the sonic possibilities of the featured instrument as Kerrod plucks, strums, and manipulates it over Maxwell’s electronics, attempting to clear the sky with a fusillade of notes that may be meant to both seduce and pierce the clouds.
Megadrought is filled with ambition and inspiration, and Devin Maxwell seems to revel in allowing the musicians the opportunity to stretch their respective instruments as far as they can. “All I ask is that while you listen,” Maxwell suggests on his Bandcamp page, “take a long look in the mirror. Ask yourself only one question. Do you have what it takes – the moxie – to attempt to control the weather?”