Surrealistic electro-folk experimentations adventurously abound throughout the new self-titled album by North Carolina Piedmont-based trio, Setting.

Made up of multi-instrumentalists Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles and Joe Westerlund, Setting freely improvises on banjos, zithers and synthesizers with tape loops, electronics and an abundance of percussion instruments. The trio leaned into their musical instincts by jamming loose and letting each track just naturally flow and grow into expansive genre-defying soundscapes.

Tracks like “Heard a Bubble” revolve around a cycling folk-influenced melody, and build and build with a swirling cyclone of electronic countermelodies, beats and layers of textural noise. This is kosmische Americana music akin to Tacoma Park, but it leans heavier into the cosmic jam side of that particular sonic spectrum, as can be heard on the swampy acid funk of “Gum Bump,” which wobbles and fizzles like a heady Wet Tuna track.

Using minimalist folk as a starting point to then bend and refract into a prismatic array of wild Krautrock-adjacent sounds is not easy feat, but Setting makes it sound both easy and totally natural. Pre-order your copy from Thrill Jockey now ahead of its 4/24 release date.

-KH