Drag City and Yoga Records are delighted to return to the music of Matthew Young with a new album, titled Undercurrents, due out May 30. Recorded intermittently since the late 1970s, it fits in perfectly alongside—as well as builds and expands upon—the work within and the ideas of Matthew's previous two LPs, Recurring Dreams (1981, reissued 2014) and Traveler's Advisory (1986, reissued 2010). The first single, "Reflexion," releases today with a music video.

Matthew Young, born in 1950, grew up in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Musically engaged at an early age, he attended concerts by Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, and Count Basie in his teens before discovering iconoclasts such as Eric Satie, Charles Ives, John Cage, Harry Partch, Brian Eno, and experimental rock groups such as Can and Harmonia, all inspiring the home electronic music first heard on his 1981 release, Recurring Dreams. His new album, Undercurrents, ranges from heady synthesizer experiments to earthy dulcimer meditations; although unique enough to be called outsider, it occupies a musical world accessible to fans of many genres. Similar to Recurring Dreams, the electronic landscapes meander coherently, and much like Traveler's Advisory, the album skews from the nearly algorithmic computer music of side one to the moving pastoral folk of the second.

On the opener “Reflexion,” a quartet of marimbas weave between a battle for sonic space and perfect synchronicity. At the same time playful and militantly rhythmic, “Reflexion” puts on display Young’s skill for music that both warms the heart with melody and occupies deep, transcendental thoughts. The instrumental track is mirrored by a different tone on the second half of Undercurrents, where settings of Marion Lineaweaver's poems, “The Summer Girls” and "Her Key Is Minor," showcase Young's honest, fragile vocal approach — the latter even sweetly approaching something akin to synth-pop.

Undercurrents is a triumph across many musical realms — simply put, this is Matthew Young’s world. Head out into Undercurrents on May 30, 2025.