valley and structure

more eaze – composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist mari rubio – is a dynamic artist and a growing influence in contemporary music. Her work melds youthful pop sensibilities with deep explorations of elemental musical theory. Rubio’s production, arrangement and performance credits span across a diverse and lauded list of artists including Water Damage, claire rousay, Tasha, Jeff Tobias, Chanel Beads, Faye Webster, and Wendy Eisenberg. Following her bedroom pop Thrill Jockey debut, sentence structure in the country, more eaze returns with valley and structure, the purest distillation of her exploratory work over the past year.

Though rubio has previously demonstrated an inclination towards repetition and minimalism, valley and structure stretches simple ideas to their logical extremes through small bits of connective tissue. “I’ve always been really interested in the idea of the ostinato in music,” shares rubio. “I felt like I unlocked some forbidden secret as a child when I first discovered that a bassline or melodic figure could stay the same while other elements reharmonized or changed around it.” In valley and structure, her fascination with her childhood discovery is front and center. Written as she was wrapping up sentence structure in the country, rubio began to expand her pieces, navigating new frontiers of performance.

A firm believer in the notion that no song or composition is ever permanently fixed, the Brooklyn-based musician references her own past work as a jumping-off point for future projects. The pieces on both valley and structure and sentence structure are undeniably in conversation with one another while also comprising two incredibly distinct works. As such, “the producer” has been stripped to its core and then dubbed out on “i’m in the structure.” The new version keeps the idea of the ostinato as a repeating arpeggio on the violin, accompanied by the occasional drone and scrape of a drum machine. The sprawling, 20-minute long “once you say yes to the structure, you never get out” opens with an almost glitching rhythmic pattern, gradually phasing as an extra eighth note is added to the figure, the whole ensemble droning as longer notes are introduced like slowly changing release and attack times. By the end, the process nearly reverses as the ensemble returns to a hyperactive rhythmic pulse. The piece demonstrates rubio’s penchant for both elevating her music past what’s expected and grounding herself in her roots. 

valley and structure expands into new horizons that coalesce into a variety of arrangements and formations. Where sentence structure tears and rebuilds, valley and structure branches out, forever actualizing in different shapes and contexts. Following her extraordinary take on pop with sentence structure in the country, rubio’s latest work serves as a conceptual signpost, pushing her music forward into an exciting new territory. valley and structure is a true testament to the musicianship of mari rubio, demonstrating her knack for composition, collaboration, arrangements, and direction. With valley and structure, rubio transforms the smallest musical ideas into expansive worlds of possibility.