To understand the musical DNA of Eugene post-rock band This Patch of Sky, it’s best to look past rock entirely and instead focus on contemporary classical composers such as Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki.
“I’ve always been drawn to their ability to take something simple, and over time build it into something completely different,” TPOS cellist Alex Abrams says of those minimalist composers.
Last year, TPOS released These Small Spaces on Equal Vision Records. The critically acclaimed album has a lush and cinematic quality that conforms to many rock idioms — for example, electric guitars and the crashing explosiveness of a drum kit — but there’s also a slow-moving expressionistic side that’s very much in line with a lot of contemporary classical music.
“Musically speaking,” Abrams continues, “our tonal language is pretty simple, so we instead rely on the tone of our instruments and building a crafted wall of sound.”
“It would also be fair to say the form of our songs is very similar to something you might hear in a classical concert,” he explains. “They follow a more composed form rather than a typical ‘song’ that is broken up into distinct sections.”
TPOS won’t be playing any new music at their upcoming hometown show, but the band tells me they’re already working on their next album.
“Some of it is just bare bones,” guitarist Joshua Carlton says of the new songs. “But a few of them are more fleshed out and sound amazing.”
This Patch of Sky plays with Arizona’s Holy Fawn and Eugene’s Muscle Beach Petting Zoo and Gazelle(s) 9 pm Friday, Feb. 16, at Hi-Fi Music Hall Lounge; $7 advance, $10 door, 21-plus.