Occurrence paints Human Portraits in sound on "REAL PERSON"
On their latest offering and second record of the year, REAL PERSON, experimental electronic trio Occurrence have crafted an album as intimate as a handwritten letter and as sprawling as a fever dream. REAL PERSON takes a novel approach: each track is a sonic representation of an actual person who’s shaped the band’s life and creative trajectory. It’s a bold, immersive work that not only pushes the boundaries of what electronic music can sound like but also how it can feel.
The concept was born during sessions for their 2023 album Real Friend, as bandleader Ken Urban, vocalist Cat Hollyer, and vocalist Johnny Hager began weaving improvisational soundscapes inspired by writers, artists, and friends who left their mark on them. The result is a collection of deeply personal compositions where texture, tone, and atmosphere serve as biographical storytelling tools. There are no neat pop choruses or club-ready drops here — REAL PERSON exists in the liminal space between experimental electronic, ambient, and avant-pop.
Ken’s synth work throughout the record is phenomenal. From pulsing analog bass to shimmering pads and eerie drones, he paints abstract emotional canvases, creating distinct moods for each individual muse. At times, the production feels submerged, cloaked in foggy reverb and subterranean low end; other moments crackle with jittery, tactile precision. The range of sounds is expansive — modular synth squiggles, distorted arpeggios, manipulated field recordings — yet every element feels in service to the emotional portrait it’s attempting to convey.
Vocalists Cat Hollyer and Johnny Hager navigate these otherworldly compositions with deft sensitivity. Their voices aren’t always front and center; sometimes they’re disembodied echoes or processed into ghostly textures, sometimes they burst through the mix with raw human ache. The interplay between their vocals and Urban’s production creates an eerie intimacy — like overhearing fragments of memory through a wall, or catching someone humming to themselves in a dream.
The record really comes alive as its innate refusal to conform to traditional song structures. Each track stands as its own atmospheric world, some lush and downtempo, others charged with restless energy. There’s a brilliant push and pull between warmth and alienation, beauty and unease. It’s a record you don’t simply listen to — you inhabit it.
The album also serves as a return to Occurrence’s more experimental roots. While their last couple of projects flirted with pop structures, REAL PERSON doubles down on abstraction and sonic exploration.
In a time when so much electronic music feels designed to fill playlists or soundtrack social feeds, REAL PERSON demands presence, patience, and attention. And it rewards that attention with some of the most evocative, unpredictable, and genuinely moving experimental music you’re likely to hear this year.
It’s easily one of their most serious and immersive works yet, which is why we’re urging everyone to give it a spin as soon as you can. Go ahead and click those links below to listen in, follow along, and to make sure you’re up to date for whatever’s next.
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