New Music From Dren McDonald
Dren McDonald is a San Francisco Bay Area composer, producer, and musician whose work spans video games, film, theme parks, and immersive media. After founding Vaccination Records in the 1990s and releasing music with several Bay Area bands, he transitioned into scoring for interactive media, accumulating an extensive catalog of game credits. Beyond his work in interactive media, McDonald has released several solo and collaborative albums, including The String Arcade (2014), a string quartet interpretation of video game music that won a GANG Award for Best Cover/Remix; Psychic (2022, as PolyheDren), featuring collaborations with Josh Freese (NIN), Nels Cline (Wilco), and Iva Bittová (Nonesuch); and Oceanic (2024), an ambient record on Appearing Records. He arranged and performed two songs by The Residents for their 50th Anniversary concert at SFCM — released on Cherry Red Records as The Residents: Secret Show (Live in San Francisco).
McDonald’s new album, Vox Pterous, updates his 2023 album Pterous. That instrumental album features hundreds of layers of guitars and guitar-like instruments to create the impression of a guitar orchestra. The new album adds lyrics and vocalists. McDonald says, “The biggest challenge in putting this record together was finding the right singers for the project. I have a lot of love and admiration for all of the vocalists who contributed to this as it was a challenge. Some of them didn’t know me when I approached them, so there was a leap of faith there to try something new with someone they hadn’t worked with before… I find it challenging and thrilling to continually work with new people to see what happens when I work with someone new. But the cold calls aren’t easy. I am very grateful to the people who were brave enough to work with me for the first time. In working with Girl Swallows NIghtingale, Paula Frazer, and Lily Bloom, I found other like minded musicians who are up for attempting music that I can’t quite define.”
“‘Fading’ is indeed a thing of beauty, and aptly named. Its hypnotic, cycling acoustics are perhaps the only constant, Sophia James arabesque-infused vocals, and the subtle atmospheres that drift in her wake, often on the edge of disappearing completely, as if a change of wind direction would see the whole thing suddenly dissipate and dissolve.” – Big Takeover
“McDonald orchestrates a nuanced, melancholic environment from unconventional, layered guitar lines, providing a mesmerizing platform for James’ profound, drone-like vocal tones to construct a symbolic dreamscape.” – Obscure Sound
Recommended Tracks: 6, 2
Goes For Adds 8/4
Label: Appearing Records
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