Chuck Roth - Texture Songs (2026)

New York-based musician Chuck Roth has released his second album, “Texture Songs”, on Bill Orcutt’s Palilalia label. It is a self-assured departure from the concept behind last year’s “watergh0st songs”, on which Roth worked out how to perform electronically written compositions on guitar: though he began as a guitarist, his interest had shifted to synths and drum machines. Now he is fully rooted in his contemporary, electronic-minded process, yet he plays electric guitar, stretching its capabilities while keeping the songs at least somewhat legible. The result is a suite of evolved, complex but unfussy songs that resist simple classification, with Slint, Derek Bailey and Rodan as the closest reference points.

“Highway” reveals the imprint of solo guitar improvisation — sawing tonalities, hammered harmonics — but it quickly settles into an order of its own, where minimalism overshadows its debt to math rock. At its best it sounds like a bizarre demo tape, a skeletal studio experiment fit for an anniversary reissue of an classic produced by Steve Albini. The album’s revelation is Roth’s singing: the modular-to-guitar sequences that made the previous record sound uncanny are freer now, prompting him to take similar risks with his voice. Fractured and fragmented, it guides the listener through the knottiest passages — barely whispering over repeated Ian Williams-style figures on “Hometown Hero” and calling out over ringing resonances on “Gun”. Even in the guitar-only interlude “And Nothing is a”, the voice seems to hang back behind the sustained tones, waiting to serenade hoarsely once more.

Tracklist:
01-01 Chuck Roth - Highway [5:49]
01-02 Chuck Roth - Hometown Hero [3:46]
01-03 Chuck Roth - Waiting [5:33]
01-04 Chuck Roth - And Nothing is a [2:12]
01-05 Chuck Roth - Gun [5:45]
01-06 Chuck Roth - Siren [6:17]
01-07 Chuck Roth - Love Song [4:57]