Psychedelic panache and polyphonic play ignite the surrealism of Esteban Seunarine’s ‘ECHO-OLOGY’ –

Esteban Seunarine pulled off something wildly transportive with ECHO-OLOGY featuring Ben Kensok, the kind of single that would still swallow you whole even if you played it in mono through the cheapest plastic speaker you could dig out of a drawer. The way the composition from his FREQUENCIES FOR GHOSTS LP sprawls out with swanky, mind-bending colour and the perfect dose of psychedelic panache feels engineered to lift you into another dimension. The playful polyphonic keys flicker through the mix, while the crashing syncopated percussion gives the whole piece an art rock meets trip-hop texture with bags of off-kilter charm.

Just as the atmosphere starts to warp into alt electronica territory, the blasts of sax tear through the haze and pull the spotlight back to where Seunarine’s instincts shine brightest. It is improvised jazz that knows exactly when to lean into surrealism and when to tighten its grip, leaving you feeling like you have been dragged through a vivid synaptic collage.

As a Winnipeg-based drummer, composer, producer and educator, Seunarine has shaped his musical identity through years of weaving rhythmic traditions from across the world into something unmistakably his. After training in Jazz Performance at Brandon University and learning under mentors who pushed his imagination further, he grew into an artist guided by restlessness rather than rigidity. His long list of collaborations with Grammy and Juno-winning musicians sharpened his desire to chase rhythms that surprise and improvisations that tell stories without pandering to academic purists. In Winnipeg’s tight-knit scene, he continues to build projects that stretch the edges of improvised music, reminding anyone paying attention that complexity does not need to shut a listener out. ECHO-OLOGY is proof of his belief that adventurous sound can still feel accessible, as long as the intention behind it comes from somewhere instinctive and alive.

ECHO OLOGY is now available on all major streaming platforms via this link. 
Review by Amelia Vandergast