Debut EP from VPC Ensemble

New York-based collective VPC Ensemble is a new act that lands between ambient stillness, psychedelic exploration and the limitless possibilities of improvisational music. Led by Dash Lunde, also known as Virtual Perfection Cowboy, the group creates what they’ve dubbed psychedelic ambient space jazz, offering a sound that blends electroacoustic textures, space rock’s searching sense of discovery and the open-ended creativity of nu-jazz.

VPC Ensemble forges immersive environments designed to encourage deep listening, reflection and a sense of connection, captured in enveloping soundscapes that are transportive and highly original. Their music takes cues from artists who’ve explored sound as a form of meditation and transformation; there’s echoes of David Gilmour’s weightless guitar expression, the atmospheric experiments of Fripp & Eno and the spiritual jazz explorations of Alice Coltrane, Carlos Niño and Nala Sinephro. At the same time, VPC Ensemble’s work connects with the healing, spacious qualities found in the music of Laraaji, Steve Roach and Harold Budd, creating a sonic world where soporific calm and movement coalesce.

The endeavour takes shape as a living collective of New York improvisers, built around collaboration and spontaneous musical communication. Alongside Dash Lunde, the project features Evan Pittson of Pittson Family Band on electric viola, lee hooper of Solange and Las Mariquitas on flute and pedals, Zachary Berns of zbeeez and Kelsey Lu on drums, Alexia Charoud of Tentative on vocals and Kacie Boblitt of Sleep No More and Metropolitan Opera contributing movement through wearable percussion.

Together, they create a unique musical language where traditional instrumental roles become dissolved. Electric viola, flute, samplers, drums, wordless vocal textures and physical movement combine into a constantly shifting atmosphere, forming a space where music, body and environment interact. That context now crystallises on the collective’s debut release, Life Is a Strange Loop: Side A, a five-track EP that began from a highly personal moment for Dash Lunde, who found himself reflecting on existence while experiencing the arrival of a new life through parenthood and this sense of wonder, uncertainty and transformation became the creative spark for the record.

Inspired by Douglas Hofstadter’s theories of consciousness, Life Is a Strange Loop: Side A explores ideas of identity, awareness and the universe reflecting upon itself. The record is designed as a continuous listening experience, encouraging audiences to step away from distraction and fully engage with the music. While it shares the meditative qualities of ambient music, it carries a greater sense of movement and energy, combining the calm of deep listening with the exploratory spirit of psychedelic rock and improvisational jazz.

Opened by “New Life,” the EP starts off with the soft flicker of airy instrumental tones which drift through a hazy atmosphere of swelling textures and sweeping waves of warm lead guitar notes. Gliding with mesmeric rhythmic sway, the delicate melodic flutters hover above an immersive backdrop to cast a dreamy and truly spellbinding listening experience from start to finish. “Fleeting” arrives with bubbling synth elements before the flash of bright guitar runs add colourful sonic hues to the ebb and flow of shimmering textures, presenting an intriguing soundscape that seemingly breathes with soothing rise and fall throughout.

“Timeless” pairs the loose rhythmic loop of rustling percussive shots and gliding guitar notes as stacks of woozy sonic elements combine to form a spacey soundscape that builds with shuffling rolls and subtle intensity. With “Lovekind,” the warm pulse of synth ushers in a smokey scene as soft bass notes simmer, cymbals rattle and alluring vocalisations add a tender, human aesthetic to the piece.

Closing the record with “Gorgeous,” the band’s jazz-inflected style intricately forms with gentle instrumental lines and the wash of immersive buzz to create a hypnotic sound peppered with elegant flute leads and wholly absorbing atmosphere. With the planned full album release, vinyl edition and limited-edition Loop Talismans following the initial release of Side A, VPC Ensemble continues expanding the world around Life Is a Strange Loop. Through their blend of ambient textures, jazz improvisation, electronic experimentation and human expression, VPC Ensemble create music that feels at once ancient and futuristic, allowing listeners to slow down, become present and experience the strange, beautiful loop of being alive.

Commenting on the release, Dash Lunde shares, “I was becoming a father while making this album, and there’s a vertigo about watching life begin—seeing the phase you just went through from the outside. It’s about cycles inside cycles: repeating yet always transforming, the same and yet completely unique.”

Listen to Life Is a Strange Loop: Side A below