Hand Clap's debut album is the drone record you didn't know you needed today

Genre: Drone / Ambient / Spoken Word / Synthesizer

Yesterday, Melbourne sound artist Maya Borjesson quietly released Upon Reflection, their debut album as Hand Clap, on the independent label Eternal Music Projects (catalog EMP019). 1 Seven tracks of drone, ambient texture, and spoken word — composed sporadically over three years — arrived with almost no fanfare, which is exactly the kind of release this channel exists to surface.

Maya Borjesson is an architect and visual/sound artist based in Naarm (Melbourne). 2 The Hand Clap moniker has been active long enough to accumulate a performance history that most debut-album artists don't have: a Japan tour, a slot supporting Penelope Trappes (the acclaimed dark ambient and neo-classical vocalist), a set at Hopkins Creek Festival, and a write-up in Art Smitten. 2

That background matters for how you hear Upon Reflection. This is someone who has played these pieces in rooms, tested how they unfold in front of other people. The architecture training probably matters too. There's a structural patience in how these tracks build that you don't often get from first-time electronic releases.

Their self-description is direct: "Using synthesizers, spoken word, and field recordings, their compositions explore themes of connection, memory, nostalgia and grief." 2

The album contains seven tracks totaling roughly 45 minutes, each built on extended loops through which sound gradually opens up. 1 The titles give a clear signal: Sitting with the Trees (5:10), The Red Shore (7:29), A Moment Between Observation and Reflection (6:46), A Thread Beneath Our Skin (7:17), Fragments on Tape (6:56), All That Unfolds, Returns (6:21), As Time Remained Suspended (5:52).

The gear is worth noting. Upon Reflection was recorded at Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS), using a Minimoog Model D, Sequential Pro 2, UDO Super 6, and Juno-106. 1 These are not plug-ins. The Minimoog Model D is a pre-1981 analogue monosynth; the UDO Super 6 is a binaural hybrid polysynth built in small runs out of Birmingham. MESS, the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio, maintains one of the most comprehensive vintage synthesizer collections in the Southern Hemisphere — access to that studio is earned, not assumed. Vocals were recorded separately at the State Library of Victoria, and mastering was handled by Joseph Buchan.

Borjesson describes the album as something that

The seven pieces are designed to be heard as one continuous listening experience — absence, intention, vulnerability, and solitude are the emotional coordinates they're working with.

Three preview tracks went up on SoundCloud yesterday alongside the Bandcamp release: Sitting with the Trees had 60 plays within the first 23 hours, A Thread Beneath Our Skin had 64, and All That Unfolds, Returns had 25. 3 Those are small numbers, but they're accumulating on a debut album that's been out less than a day with no promotional push beyond a label page and a SoundCloud profile.

Eternal Music Projects is a real label with a real catalog — this is EMP019, which means eighteen prior releases before Hand Clap. That's the difference between a bedroom upload and an actual debut. Combined with the MESS recording credits, the performance history, and the three-year gestation period, Upon Reflection has the density of something that was made deliberately rather than quickly.

The full album is on Bandcamp for $10 AUD in 24-bit/48kHz. 1 Three tracks are streaming free on SoundCloud now. 3

Start with A Thread Beneath Our Skin — at 7:17 it's long enough to pull you somewhere before it lets you go.