The cover painting of this album depicts a swim-suited figure set against a hazy blue moonlit background. This person is falling with style but perhaps also nurtures dreams of flying. The relaxed elegance of the pose suggests that whatever lies below holds no fear.
It's a fitting image for a set of tunes that are part leaps into the unknown and part calculated free falls.
Emerging from New York's Lower East Side, Seth Faergolzia is a singular artist who is not short on ambition. Whatever problems he may have in life, writer's block is not one of them.
Up to now he has released 20 albums in various incarnations. He was a founder-member and leader of weirdo collective Dufus and among the other bands he currently has on the go are an 18-person ensemble 23 Psaegz and a more modest quartet named Multibird. On High Diver he is mainly in solo mode.
After a conversation about song writing processes with anti-folk kingpin Jeffrey Lewis, Faergolzia set himself the goal of writing 100 songs in 4 months during 2014. These were then recorded in his home studio and uploaded to a subscription website (faergolzia.com) where, for a fee, they can all still be accessed.
High Diver is the first conventional release to cherry-pick selections from these songs, although there's nothing remotely conventional about this record.
Using multiple writing techniques and built around a variety of improvised arrangements, it's a deliberately nutty hotchpotch of ideas, experiments and ditties.
Rubbing It In is the wildest of the nine tracks consisting solely of looped and layered vocals. This is a randomized rap about memories and "building wisdom through experience". Relishing the jumble of words and strange noises, Faergolzia takes child-like pleasure in the infinite sonic possibilities offered by lines like "I gobbled it up".
The title track features eccentric, but more controlled, vocal excursions built around the poems of his partner Laura Lee Jones and amounts to a celebration of "weightless space release".
Rainy Morning is like a show tune dedicated to the universe and one of the first of the Hundred Song project. "Rainy days make the plants grow, make the soil fresh", the singer enthuses against a backdrop of drums, banjo and tuba.
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Garbage Night is a "trash anthem" about hunting through the stuff people dump on the street and searching for 'treasure' and recyclable goods with his daughter (who can be heard on backing vocals). Fittingly, the percussive sounds are partly sampled from found metal pieces - lamps, pots, pans etc.
Running Blood shows that Faergolzia runs on more than just manic energy. This is a calming hymn to tolerance and understanding based around musical chimes.
A sentimental streak is also evident on Berlin constructed around dewy-eyed memories of his adventures while singing, squatting or just hanging out in the German capital.
Wait For The Beep is one of three songs he wrote using the same looped background sound while the relatively conventional I Want It Easy is not actually part of the 100 song cycle but a 'here's one I made earlier' number taken from his solo album, Doubting Won't Do.
Young & Beautiful rounds things off in romantic fashion with a public declaration of his love for his partner, the aforementioned Laura.
All told, this is all pretty madcap stuff but there's plenty of heart and soul to balance out the general arty-fartiness.
Against the odds, the songs somehow manage to form a coherent and exuberant portrait of an artist confident enough to go with the flow.
Having dipped into Faergolzia's personal song bank, two or three further albums are promised and if they match the high standard set here they can't come soon enough.
Seth Faergolzia's website
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