By Jim Macnie | Published October 2025
Recent efforts like Sunny Five’s Candid remind just how valuable a team player David Torn is. Dude invariably delivers motifs that enhance an ensemble’s direction, even if they shift the design scheme in play. Something similar happens when he works alone. On the digital-only peace upon you (Torn Music; 73:10), the wily guitarist is a master of mood whose expressionistic tendencies often create impressionistic rewards; details are always on his mind. These six improvised stringtronica ruminations are all about textural plurality. Fuzz-laden phrases accommodate craggy acoustic musings and shrill asides weave through hushed panoramas. The looping/sampling aesthetic he’s refined through the years reaches an apex here, brimming with the “wordless poetry” he strives for. Some victories are about cleverly opening a door; this one is about strolling through and redecorating the room.
