Joshua Crumbly announces How I Feel Sometimes, his new ambient/electronic record out June 12 via Congrats Records, and releases the lead single and video, “church.” He has a storied history in music; the multi-instrumentalist started playing professionally at 10, when he played in one of the bands his dad, Ronnie Crumbly, led in and around Los Angeles in the 1990s and early aughts. He studied at Juilliard, where in his freshman year he got a dream call to join Terence Blanchard’s acoustic quintet, which he played with for going on six years. From there, he went on to tour with Kamasi Washington and Leon Bridges and has contributed to recent releases by De La Soul, Bob Dylan, and Big Thief, for which he’s also the touring bassist. Like the jazz he grew up playing, How I Feel Sometimes thrives on spontaneity and improvisation, unfurling with piano, vintage synths, and a child-like curiosity.
When people asked Crumbly why he started making ambient music, he reflected on the time he spent playing bass in the church band: “There were a lot of open spiritual moments where I’d just explore melodic phrases without direction,” he reflects. Today’s sprightly “church” is carried by this adrift momentum. A stuttering downscale and the sound of hands clapping transports you to that sacred, formative space, where song brings you closer to something holy. “There is an upbeat moment in African American churches in which the music is referred to as ‘shout’ or ‘shout music,’” says Crumbly. “A communal deep optimism is felt. My wish is that ‘church’ invites universal collective feelings of gratitude, unearthed joy & hopefully puts a smile on your face.” The accompanying visuals were co-directed by finnimalism and Chloe Pang.
Following 2020’s jazz album Rise, and its 2021 follow-up, ForEver, a dynamic and rich ambient collection, How I Feel Sometimes is Crumbly’s most pared-down album to date. Recorded over the course of two consecutive mornings at his home studio in Harlem, Crumbly wanted to make something that felt curious and open to possibility.
Crumbly compares himself to his primary instrument, bass: it’s a little understated, but glues the rest of an ensemble together. Up until now, bass has driven much of Crumbly’s output, but on How I Feel Sometimes, he ditched the instrument and returned to his first ever: piano. “Piano is where it all started, and at the time I was making this album I didn’t have any inclination to begin it on bass,” Crumbly says. With an arsenal of instruments at his disposal, Crumbly unthinkingly picked the one that brought him back to his earliest years.
Beginning around two in the morning, Crumbly sat with his collection of vintage synths and produced what you hear on this album, in exactly that order. He went in without a plan and the sole intention to just play around. “As adults we possess the power to be even more childlike than ever. I think it’s because we know what it’s like to set out in the world and make decisions based on what would be the most fun, but we lose sight of that as we age,” Crumbly says. “But if we’re intentional about it and we seek joy and seek to have that childlike adventure I think we can unlock it with even greater depths now.”
By: Bass Magazine