Alex Chang - Abandon (2026) [Hi-Res]

Alex Chang is a harp virtuoso of the contemporary generation who reimagines the possibilities of her instrument by merging its classical roots with jazz, folk, and rock textures. Her album Abandon on the Adhyâropa Records label presents two interwoven narratives: one explores the universal human experience of love in all its joys and sorrows; the other is a hymn to improvisation as a creative act.
The album is structured as a series of variations and transitions. Central to this journey are three versions of the composition 'Rain (from Water Suite in C# Minor)' in different formats—solo, duo, and trio. Each iteration reveals a new emotional layer: the solo version is an intimate, multitracked dialogue between Chang and herself, rendered in sunshower and grey tones; the trio version, featuring bassist Jason Handron and drummer Adam Forman, acquires an experimental, free-jazz character; the duo version returns the listener to dark, meditative spaces. This architecture of repetition and transformation mirrors the strategy employed in albums like Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and The Beastie Boys' Check Your Head—cyclical rather than linear, where the listener transforms alongside the music.
Chang describes the album as an "episodic, undulating landscape," where thematic elements return and are reimagined through the lens of improvisation and spontaneity. The closing track, 'A Love As Deep', with its lustrous veil of sound (a combination of electric and acoustic harp accented with shimmering reverb), communicates closure and transformation.
Chang's work stands under the strong influence of Dorothy Ashby, the pioneering figure who reimagined the harp as an instrument of jazz and improvisation. In conversation, Chang invokes Hayao Miyazaki's film 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind' as the philosophical foundation of the project—the idea of love as deep as a redemptive act in the face of ecocatastrophe. This ecological dimension permeates the entire album.

Tracklist:
1-1 Alex Chang - Rain (from Water Suite in C# Minor) - Solo [3:07]
1-2 Alex Chang - A Love As Deep (I) [1:58]
1-3 Alex Chang;Adam Forman - Fall Jam (Swirling Leaves) [5:15]
1-4 Alex Chang - Caress (I) [2:41]
1-5 Alex Chang;Rocky City Falls Trio;Adam Forman;Jason Handron - Rain (from Water Suite in C# Minor) - Trio [5:11]
1-6 Alex Chang - Abandon [2:42]
1-7 Alex Chang - Caress (II) [2:38]
1-8 Alex Chang - Suite in C, Mvt. II [3:16]
1-9 Alex Chang;Adam Forman - Rain (from Water Suite in C# Minor) - Duo [4:19]
1-10 Alex Chang - Leaving [4:30]
1-11 Alex Chang - A Love As Deep (II) [2:48]