When guitarist George Harrison released his 1979 eponymous album, he had lost a parent and become one. Understandably, this divide between life and birth soaked into the work, the songwriter’s most accomplished since 1973. Decades later, Stephen Emmer lunges forward with Asymmetrical Dot, an ambient instrumental work that bears little resemblance to the solo Beatles on the surface, even if there is a parallel in its schematics. As Harrison did, Emmer experienced the death of a guardian before embracing new life: a grandchild. These emotions swim together to provide the listener with context for the frequently dazzling album.
“Benja’s Birth”, a piano painting dotted with the giggles of children, anchors Asymmetrical Dot. Born in the Netherlands, Emmer is of Indonesian heritage on his mother’s side, no meagre padding, but a tidy descriptor of the percussion that adds to the tune. Indonesian percussion forms part of the record’s skeleton, a project about identity as a reflection.
In his effort to blend Eastern and Western instruments, Emmer indirectly honours Harrison in another way. In 1968, the then-incumbent Beatle issued Wonderwall Music, an impasto of textures sampled from all over the globe. Emmer, in his turn, marries Asiatic vocalising to Germanic piano strokes across the blinding “Accepting the Albatross”. Armenian singer Arpi Alto guests on “Amboina (for Roekie Aronds)”, a soporific, dreamlike composition embellished by barrelling, bombing tom-toms.
Wonderwall Music was a soundtrack to a movie. While Asymmetrical Dot isn’t that by definition, Emmer invites audiences to posit pictures and paintings of their own design to the polyphonic instrumentation. “The Space Between” is ripe with memories of yearning, a romantic tryst that captured more emotions in moments and gestures than could be conveyed across days, weeks, and years. Accompanying the scat vocals is the sound of a wooden instrument. A nylon guitar, perhaps? Elsewhere, British session player Everton Nelson produces soaring violin strokes, while Peruvian-born Maria Alejandra Quintanilla adds another dimension to the record.
“The Beauty of Unevenness” is magnetic: ghostly vocals echoing into the backdrop, as if summoning the spirits of 10cc from their “Une Nuit à Paris” days. Emmer directs the musicians to deliver minimal notes, building the frame rather than covering it from head to toe with sonics. Courtney Swain adds a muscular counter-vocal, lifting the record even further.
Despite the title, “Cri de Couer” is one of the more hopeful additions to Asymmetrical Dot, with jaunty woodwind instruments bouncing up and down to the rising, energetic emotions of the musicians. In direct correlation to the brass comes a thunderous drum, stopping and starting in the manner of a heart going through the emotions. Cogently, Asymmetrical Dot climaxes with the title song, purportedly Emmer’s tribute to Blue Velvet director David Lynch. A Zen-like fadeout, this piece could be re-packaged in later years as a ballet – one can picture the slow movers and shapes pirouetting to the rustling sounds. Come to think of it, “Unpredictably Familiar” would also work as a form of dance installation.
Bristling with ideas and formations, Stephen Emmer’s latest work is so malleable to interpret precisely because the tones and timbre are so universal. It is perhaps a bit too long; 14 songs is two too many, unless it’s Revolver. Fans of Emmer’s work with the Lotus Eaters may miss some of the rock dynamics of his younger work. By turning to the work, listeners will be rewarded with a meditative album that’s deeply comfortable in its own skin. Emmer doesn’t overtly imitate George Harrison, although there are flavourings to be heard, and he certainly carried that Beatle’s spirit.