“Like electric Miles or Ornette Coleman’s flirtations with post-punk, WRENS’ electroacoustic jazz-rap is messy and sincere, unafraid to carve out new paths.” (Pitchfork)

2022: BRDCST chose the inimitable jaimie branch as its headliner following her impressive releases Fly or Die (2017) and Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise (2019). And she delivered!  

jaimie – she insisted on her name always being written in lowercase – had the crowd in raptures. A month later, she played with Anteloper – her duo with drummer Jason Nazary – at the AB Club. Exactly three months and three days later, she passed away. It had such an impact on us that we continue to follow and cherish her close musical peers.  

Enter Jason Nazary (USA) and cellist Lester St. Louis (USA), who appeared on Fly or Die II and was also present at BRDCST on that occasion. Both are members of Brooklyn’s WRENS, along with Elias Stemeseder (synths) and frontman/trumpeter/rapper Ryan Easter, whose rap flow was described by Pitchfork as ‘a cross between Earl Sweatshirt and Lil B.’  

Their album, Half of What You See, was highly acclaimed. Pitchfork: ‘The jazz-rap ensemble’s second album is dense, chaotic, and thrilling, with electroacoustic abstraction grounded by casual humor and intentional collaboration.’ The Wire: ‘Their album moves freely from deconstructed rhythms and percolating funk to beatless atmospherics, as acoustic extended techniques meld seamlessly with woozy electronics.’ Recommended!  
Line-up:  
Ryan Easter: trumpet, voice, words  
Elias Stemeseder: synths, una corda piano  
Lester St. Louis: cello, electronics  
Jason Nazary: drums, synths  

For an interesting deep dive into this movement, this is indispensable BRDCST reading: ‘Far beyond novelty or experiment, 2025 was the year that crossover projects rejected genre labels for endless sonic possibilities.’ Hybrid Vigour - The Wire