Collected up of glitch, toned down trip-hip, and strangeness in its most pure forms, Occurrence has gelled up its finest moment yet on the electropop banger “Fudge.” The band knocks on the doors of Phantogram and Glass Animals to mold an efficient concoction of wavy indie that appeals to both the indie and pop worlds, yet there is a mysterious touch of rock edge beneath its buzzy current. Glide is premiering the sticky “Fudge” off the double album Slow Violence slated for release on April 7th, 2023 below…
Occurrence is Ken Urban (electronics, synths & beats), Cat Hollyer (vocals, flute) and Johnny Hager (vocals). The band describes their music as “experimental electronic pop with a nostalgic bent.” Based in New York City’s Washington Heights, the band formed when Ken reached out to college friend Cat on Facebook after not seeing each other for twenty years. Ken was in New York working as a playwright and Cat lived in Lawrence, Kansas, working as a writer for Hallmark. Ken asked if she would sing on new tracks he was writing. Both were in the midst of major life changes, looking for new creative outlets. She agreed, and the two embarked on a now six-year collaboration. When the duo began to perform live, they invited Ken’s romantic partner Johnny to join as a second vocalist, completing the band.
While their third album had to be completed remotely due to the pandemic, the trio reunited after two years apart in Fall 2021, embarking on the recording of their ambitious fourth album Slow Violence (out April, 7. 2023). A double album boasting 22 tracks, the band pushes its sound forward with songs inspired by Rob Nixon’s concept of “slow violence.” Nixon’s term describes the unseen violence that the West perpetrates against the developing world, violence that takes years, sometimes decades, to register. The band takes that concept as an apt metaphor for how the trio’s personal lives are the products of the slow violence of their collective pasts. The new album was mixed primarily by Kiri Stensby (who records as Hara Kiri) and mastered by GRAMMY-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson. The album will be released on April 7, 2023 by Archie & Fox Records digitally and on compact disc. There will be an accompanying dance-theater piece that will premiere at MIT for six performances to correspond with the release, plus a limited-edition art book featuring lyrics, interviews with the band, photography that inspired them, and writers reflecting on the album.
