Photo by Yatri Niehaus
Takiaya Reed, speaking from Berlin on what looks to be a bright early evening, describes her state of mind when it comes to upcoming performances of her most recent work with an easy energy. "I feel relaxed and excited to play this music live, to just present the work to people," she says. "I feel really open." Those unfamiliar with her work might assume that means summery vibes, but they’d just need one listen to the crushing power of "Blood Quantum," the lead single and video for Divide & Dissolve’s newly released Systemic, to understand that there’s much more happening.
Inspired by and passionate about the histories of her Black and Native American heritage, guitarist/saxophonist Reed, in partnership with Maori drummer Sylvie Nehill, founded Divide & Dissolve with a drive towards creating powerful instrumental music as monstrously gripping as anything in the realm of avant garde metal or drone, while simultaneously claiming space for voices like theirs in said realm as well as advancing themes of expression and resistance against a suffocating mainstream of thought and history. The pointedly-titled Systemic, their second album for Geoff Barrow’s Invada label, continues in this path and builds upon it further, as Reed describes in detail regarding one of her instruments in particular:
"I wanted to make the saxophone more complicated, and I think I succeeded in that. It was a personal goal of mine, and for the next album I want to get even more wild. Because I live loop every single show, I got nervous putting that in an album, because that would mean that I would have to put that in every single time! But I decided to make myself vulnerable, challenge myself creatively. You can do so much stuff in the studio, you can pause, rewind, erase, build things."
While preparing to lead a new configuration of Divide & Dissolve for shows in support of Systemic following Nehill’s stepping back from the band, for her Bakers Dozen Reed chooses a wide range of fascinating artists across the map, from decades-old folk efforts to recent releases in punk and electronic fields, starting with an album released this year that she’s especially invested in.
Divide & Dissolve’s new album Systemic is out now via Invada. They will appear at this year’s End Of The Road and Supersonic festivals, and tour the UK in August and September.
To begin reading Reed’s Baker’s Dozen, click the image of her below
