Fraser Henry - Pneuma (2026)

Co-produced by Randall Dunn and Unform's Ben Greenberg, Henry Fraser's latest solo record is a celebration of the double bass that puts the instrument's tension and shifting resonances under a microscope.

Trust when we tell you that you've likely come across Fraser before. He's been involved with almost too many projects to mention, but most recently appeared on Ben Vida's 'Oblivion Seekers', Ka Baird's genius 'Bearings: Soundtracks for the Bardos' full-length and Lea Bertucci's 'Of Shadow and Substance'. And he joins Charmaine Lee's bespoke Kŏu Records roster with an album that gets to the core of the double bass as an instrument, not relying on its expected set of sounds but wringing out unusual scrapes, knocks and resonances that fully map out its body and potential as a solo instrument.

Improvising expertly and also relying on the recording prowess of Dunn and Greenberg, Fraser makes his instrument creak and hum and groan; we can hear that it's a double bass, somehow, but it's also never played in a way that's really legible. And that's what makes it so engrossing. Like the rest of the records on the Kŏu imprint, 'Pneuma' casts improv and a well-worn instrument in a different light, asking us to question our assumptions. It's hardly easy going, but it's captivating, that's for certain.