Terence ETC Releases 'The Merchant of Flatbush'

Terence Etc. proudly releases "The Merchant of Flatbush," the second single from his upcoming debut LP, V O R T E X, arriving on August 19th on Brainfeeder. To kick off the LP announcement earlier this month, he shared lead single "In Contemplation of Clair's Scent."

"The Merchant of Flatbush" exemplifies the glorious fusion inherent to the V O R T E X as we pivot from soundscape to soundscape in a hybrid tour of Terence's ArtRockPsychedelicDooWopAlternativeDancePunkProgressiveIndieSoul appetite.

The song, like the entirety of V O R T E X, is both insatiable yet undeniably aware of itself. "I'm choking on my cliches," he sings. His confidence fades, eclipses and re-surfaces, a portal of countless selves stacked upon the other.

V O R T E X envelops its audience in a clairvoyant's plea to their lover, a psychic invitation to some preordained union of souls as expressed through a dreamstate or vision. Rhythmically, there is the sensation of being led, of descending into the deep caverns of a psyche in the troughs of harmonic convergence, a jovial if not foreboding impression. There is regret here too, as there always is in musings of relation: regrets of timing, regrets of misread intention, regrets of one's perception of their own worthiness or capacity to accept and nurture love.

The album features contributions from Terence's friends Nick Hakim, Serpentwithfeet, Nelson Bandela plus GRAMMY-nominated artists Brandee Younger (harp), Nick Semrad (keys) and Raja Kassis (guitar).

"V O R T E X is a sonic tool that I made so that I can play it for myself and balance my energy between masculine and feminine; creative and destructive; domination and submission; right and left; sun and moon; day and night: opposing energies generally," explains Terence. "The album intends to use sound, melody, song, incantation, etc. to rebalance the self and each other throughout the constant circular movement of life."

Much of V O R T E X's climate circulates these themes. The weather of the feeling is a coy calamity, a playful unraveling of romantic expectation transposed against a taut everyday reality of projected masculinity. This need for an esoteric familiar shifts the albums perspective. Who is Terence singing to? If it is a woman is it a woman of external reality or a more abstracted feminine quality within Terence himself? .

The record certainly defies easy categorisation but is forged with the same spirit of experimentation and adventure synonymous with Terence's contemporaries: Janelle Monae, Solange, Standing on the Corner, Earl Sweatshirt and indeed, Brainfeeder's illustrious founder Flying Lotus. Nance also drew on the literature of Louise Erdrich, Toni Morrison (most notably "Sula" and "Song of Solomon"), Christina Sharpe, in addition to the artwork of Ruby Amanze and the film The Five Obstructions (2003).

Visuals by Rikkí Wright, Maya Iman, Lawrence Agyei, Alima Lee, and Kirby Griffin will accompany the album.

Terence Etc. (also known as Terence Nance) is an artist born and raised in Dallas, TX committed to offering his work to the world as mandated by his ancestors. Terence exists on the threshold of artistic form, wielding an extensive multidisciplinary perspective and approach across his practice. This multidisciplinary approach comes naturally, cultivated from his experiences and interests throughout childhood, to his formal education, and his own autodidactic prowess.

In 2020, Terence released his first EP Things I Never Had. Through music, he seeks to heal by achieving balance between masculine and feminine being(s) in his bodyspirit™. In the tradition of the beings from which he comes, rituals begin first with rhythm, and the spells of the rhythms on his first album V O R T E X are a balancing rod designed to stabilize him as he navigates life on Earth. This balance is a matter of survival as the V O R T E X of 'life' grows stronger, sexier, more profound, fun, and foreboding.

Terence wrote, directed, scored, and starred in his first feature film An Oversimplification of Her Beauty which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2013.

He is currently working on the second season of his Peabody Award-winning HBO series, Random Acts of Flyness, and also partners with filmmakers Jenn Nkiru, Bradford Young, Nanette Nelms, and Mishka Brown to form The Ummah Chroma Creative Partners-a directors collective and production company.

Terence will exhibit at the Whitney Biennial 2022 in September at the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC.

Random Acts of Flyness is set to return in late 2022/early 2023 on HBO.

Listen to the new single here:

Photo Credit: Alima Lee

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