“‘we will be wherever the fires are lit’ is sort of a sequel to ‘Stateless’. These songs come from crevasses of sometimes longer improvisations or short ones… there are no rules, I am still learning how to do this. “Making music in these dark times feels meaningless but it is what we do, small anthems to muddle through. I recorded these songs alone in my little shed as I have always done, it’s all improvised. Finding some sort of solace in ringing clatters and broken harmonics through an old guitar, strumming in opposition to the towers.” – Tashi Dorji

Four years separate the release of ‘Stateless’ and ‘we will be wherever the fires are lit’. In the interim, Tashi Dorji has seldom stood still, playing and touring almost constantly, continuing to record both as a solo and in collaboration with artists including Susie Ibarra, Alex Zhang Hungtai, Bill Orcutt, Michael Zerang, Elliott Sharp, Audrey Chen, Sally Gates, Marshall Trammell, Efrim Manuel Menuck, Aaron Turner, Dave Rempis and Joe McPhee. For Tashi, the playing of this music is always political even in its most abstract iterations. In and of itself, music can’t solve political problems – but since no moment of life is without its political context, ‘strumming in opposition to the towers’ is therefore a universal state, a freedom of expression made while doing all the other things involved with playing, maintaining a sense of lineage and documenting forward movement.

‘we will be wherever the fires are lit’ was recorded over a period of a month on a Zoom recorder in a cabin behind Tashi’s home. His music, as ever, is all improvised, using different guitar preparations – tape for muting, and metal for buzz. Different tunings and techniques; inspirations from all over. Tashi’s sound is his own, but one can’t help but feel the sound of many nations, in all hemispheres, storming through these acoustic expressions. Who else would it be for, if not for everyone?