STTk-11: “these monsters will haunt you” by zjc.

album art by the amazing mattia zucchelli: www.mattiazucchelli.com

sound artist and static switch label head zachary caputo has created music under of myriad of different names over the years, but they’re returning with their primary project, zjc, and what may be their most developed and personal album yet.

“these monsters will haunt you”, the title being a homage to the heavens to betsy 7” “these monsters are real”, is a dense and heavily conceptual project that journeys into the darkest parts of the human psyche and comes back out wounded but alive. pulling from intensely personal places and attempting to conceptualize their own struggles with depression, abuse, and owning their sexuality, zachary has shed his knack for abstraction and created a sonic story that’s fiercely human in a way previously unseen from them. that molting results in an emotional, sometimes exhausting, but ultimately exhilarating listen.

sonically, they’ve taken their hip-hop indebted twist on electronic music to the edge of ableton. everything from pop/footwork-inspired hybrids to folk-tinged dub shows up here, slowly giving way to extended pieces inspired by modern classical, ambient, and no wave music. all the while, zachary never forgets the bomb squad-esque style that inspired them, layering the tracks so immensely that headphone listening is almost required. it’s a demanding listen running just shy of an hour long at only 10 tracks, but not a moment feels wasted or forgotten, each track shapeshifting, evolving, or building at an almost constant rate.

zachary has hinted towards this being his final album under the zjc banner, sidelining it only for future production credits, and while we he hope he doesn’t, we wouldn’t be able to argue with it. “these monsters will haunt you” is the culmination of everything the zjc project has to offer with a heart unlike any of their previous projects. call us biased, but it’s easily the best record they’ve ever made and we’re proud to add it to our roster.

nothing but light

static switch records is a label from chicago.