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For nearly a decade, Tycho has been known as the musical alias of Scott Hansen, but with the of Awake - his second LP for Ghostly International - the solo project evolved into a three-piece band. Relating closer to post-rock than ambient soundscapes, the record is situated in the present, sounding more like Hansen than drawing from his influences. This is, in many ways, the first true Tycho record. Following 2011's Dive LP, the San Francisco-based designer toured extensively, and with a full band on stage, his sound coalesced into a percussive, organic whole. Zac Brown (guitars, bass) rejoined Scott on the road for this tour, but it was the particular addition of Rory O'Connor's live drumming that ultimately sent Hansen back to the studio with a more precise vision. InchAfter the tour, I decided that I wanted to capture the more energetic, driven sound of the live show on the next album,Inch Hansen recalls. Bringing musicians into Tycho's creative process was a step towards expanding his own songwriting and advancing the project beyond it's current sound. In a cabin near Tahoe last winter, Zac and Scott began fleshing out the structure of the new record, but it wasn't until they set up shop in the hills of Santa Cruz with Rory that it all fell into place. InchIt crystallized the vision of how the drums would come to the forefront on this record,Inch says Hansen. The sound was much more stripped-down and concise with more organic instruments in the fold. Songs like InchMontanaInch and InchAwakeInch are a departure from Tycho's previous material - unique to the group effort poured into the songs on the new record - while InchSeeInch and InchDyeInch echo ideas from previous works, bridging a middle ground between the old and new. Working with Count Eldridge, who also engineered Dive, the team could fixate on the pulses that Tycho might previously layer under synthesize
