For Tycho's Scott Hansen, it all comes back to water. In particular, the American River, which flows near his hometown of Sacramento, California.
The river, Hansen says, was his first introduction to how powerful water can be.
"There's this element of fear when you're a kid, and it's a big river, and it's cold so you get that shock. It's a really powerful sensory experience," Hansen says. "In learning to interact with and integrate with a body of water, I think there's something like an introduction to spiritual experiences."
With this affection for the river, and the outdoors in general, in mind, Hansen wrote "Green," which features on his latest electronic instrumental release, Infinite Health.
"Green" starts softly, as if you can just barely hear the rushing of water as you get nearer to the source. The trickle of melody soon gets fuller until it builds into a consistent stream, though still gentle. This is a river, after all, not a tsunami.
Infinite Health follows six other Tycho LPs that blend chillwave electronic textures with elements of ambient rock. Two of those albums, Epoch and Weather, earned Hansen Grammy nominations for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
The new record could have been centered on Hansen's affinity for the natural experiences of his youth, but then "Devices" came along. Originally written for a film soundtrack, "Devices" leans into synths and other ambient and electronic elements right away, fulfilling the brief Hansen received to "write an energetic dance song."
Hansen said writing "Devices" was a freeing process because it wasn't originally intended to be a song that would appear on a Tycho album. He found himself pushing past his usual sound and drawing from early inspirations, including dance and house music from the '90s.
After the song didn't make the film soundtrack, Hansen was unsure if "Devices" belonged on Infinite Health. When sitting with "Devices" and "Green" though, he heard their contrasts and realized they could work together as "conceptual bookends" to the album that expressed the battle between nature and technology.
Though he's finished Infinite Health (which was released Aug. 30) and is bringing the new music to the Knitting Factory on Sept. 20, Hansen says he still hasn't found a resolution between that nature versus technology battle and in fact finds himself at a worse place in the struggle than before.
Hansen was able to spend a lot of time with his young children when COVID brought touring to a halt. That time in dad mode however delayed the beginning of the production cycle for what would become this new record. As a result, Hansen says the year he spent on the album was really intense and full of nonstop work, and he found himself feeling removed from nature.
Finding a balance between wanting to stay connected to both nature and the modern world leads to the overarching theme — and title — of the record. When you hit 40, Hansen says, things start to go in a different direction, and you realize the choices you make now impact your ability to positively impact people around you.
Wanting a family made him realize that he had to be a lot stronger mentally, physically and emotionally in order to handle the responsibilities that come with raising children. He started practicing yoga, for one, to help deal with old skateboarding injuries and heal repetitive stress syndrome.
In his work to become healthier overall, Hansen says he was surprised at the power of the human body to heal itself if given the space to do so.
"It's just incredible what it'll give back if you give to it," he says. "Nothing goes on forever. Nobody lives forever, but at least while we're here, try to be the best version of yourself and the most emotionally and physically strong version of yourself that you can possibly be. If you can do that, I think you can make the most positive impact on the people around you."
Hansen says that while yoga is great for the physical benefits, he doesn't get the spiritual takeaways from meditation or breathwork. That comes, instead, through the aforementioned river and through music and art, both creating and consuming.
Infinite Health helped Hansen explore the tension between nature and technology, and it's his wish that the record can do the same for others, even if their battle isn't quite the same.
"I really hope it can have some small, meaningful impact on people's lives, whoever's listening out there," he says. ♦
Tycho, Nasaya • Fri, Sept. 20 at 8 pm • $45-$75 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com