Dan Weiss Starebaby (ft. Trevor Dunn, Ben Monder, etc) prep new LP (stream a track)

Judy Moreno

In 2018, avant-garde/jazz/metal drummer/composer Dan Weiss released his new album Starebaby with bassist Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk, Secret Chiefs 3), guitarist Ben Monder, and keyboardists Craig Taborn and Matt Mitchell, and now the Starebaby band is gearing up for another album, Natural Selection, due September 18 via Pi Recordings (pre-order).

The new album came shortly after Starebaby finished a rrun of live shows, and Dan says that "logging so many hours playing together helped us to really internalize this music, which allows us to improvise with more freedom and fewer inhibitions."

We're premiering the seven-minute single "The Long Diagonal," which Dan calls "a showcase for some of the individual personalities of the band." "Craig Taborn takes a brilliant solo on piano at the end, but at its center is a monster guitar solo from Ben Monder, my favorite of all his recorded Starebaby solos, hands down," he continues.

"The title ‘The Long Diagonal’ is a nod to my love of chess: Something about the way the melody moves against the bassline reminded me of a bishop’s diagonal movement. The track is also an example of something that I composed from the electric bass, an instrument that I’ve been studying seriously over the last couple of years just so I could approach the music from a different, maybe more rock-oriented perspective."

As you might expect, "The Long Diagonal" is a dizzying, complex, genre-defying song that goes through all kinds of twists and turns, from warm piano to screaming distorted guitar solos and beyond. Hear it for yourself below.

Tracklist
1. Episode 18
2. Dawn
3. The Long Diagonal
4. A Taste Of A Memory
5. Today Is Wednesday Tomorrow
6. Bridge Of Trust
7. Accina
8. Head Wreck