H+ – aka Malcolm Brian Swan, a music teacher with a Bachelors in performing the double bass and a Masters in Music Composition – is an IDM/glitch artist from Bermuda, whose new album Hidden Dimensions is a consuming and heady listen that references ideas found in string or M theory, as well as being influenced by Blaxploitation soundtracks of the ’70s. His music aims to make your brain dance, the prevalent edits and alternating effects in glitch coinciding with engaging melodies. It’s certainly best experienced with headphones. The album’s eponymous track does well in showcasing this sound, with a bouncy melody that rides on a capricious mode of glitch and IDM production.
Elaborating more on the project’s scope in general:
“The M theory basically states that matter is made up of vibrating strings that vibrate in 9 or 10 dimensions. These extra dimensions are only apparent at the Planke level or the smallest level.
This line of thinking corresponds with the level of detail in the music. H+ is hoping that listeners can hear the macroscopic form of the music, the level of detail in the chords that are used and the individual parts, right down to the delicate glitches and crazy edits at the micro level. Physics, maths, and music are all closely related. Sound is vibrations which corresponds to the vibrations found in string theory. This reminding the listener of a fundamental tones relationship to the overtones and how we perceive pitch and timbre.”
Stream Hidden Dimensions in full below:
