Chloe Kim - Ratsnake (2025) [Hi-Res]

'Ratsnake' is the fifth solo release that Sydney-based drummer and improviser Chloe Kim considers her proper debut album, recorded and mixed by Randall Dunn. In the album, Kim, a lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a seasoned performer who previously played with Holopeak and Medeski Marin & Wood, explores heady rhythmelodic cycles, extended percussion techniques, and unexpected textures. The volatile solo workout, inspired by New York's constant movement, showcases her tempo-flexing, circuitous rhythms and tonal experimentation, where melodic outlines emerge from her use of tuned gongs, scraped cymbals, and balanced toms. The album's title and some tracks, such as 'Birth Dream', are inspired by Korean folklore (the Korean rat snake is a symbol of abundance seen by Kim's mother in a conception dream). Her style, shaped by jazz and free improvisation, maintains a personal and idiosyncratic connection to the tempo-fluxing rhythms central to Korean folk music, which she previously explored.

Tracklist:
1-1 Chloe Kim - Ratsnake [7:06]
1-2 Chloe Kim - Birth Dream [2:52]
1-3 Chloe Kim - Tail Dance [3:02]
1-4 Chloe Kim - Hello, Guston [5:40]
1-5 Chloe Kim - Secret Wish [5:53]
1-6 Chloe Kim - Twilight Zone [4:42]
1-7 Chloe Kim - The First Gift [5:39]