New Bubblemath album

TURF ASCENSION

hit the surface
June 2022!

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Here's what the critics are saying about Turf Ascension:

“An easy five-star classic of modern-day progressive rock, Turf Ascension is another absolute gem from Bubblemath, a band that deserves the immediate attention of the prog community for not only this album but their two early releases as well. Essential!”
—Pete Pardo, Sea of Tranquility

“You will often be left dumbfounded trying to work out how so much technical skill and complexity can be interwoven so effortlessly into four intriguing songs … the attention to detail and amazing chops require the listener to sit up and take notice … amazingly intricate and complex arrangements … This album is probably the band's best effort to date”
—Greg Cummins, DPRP

“The performances are flawless … brimming with creativity … Turf Ascension is a bold progression for Bubblemath … exciting and refreshing … a stimulating work of musicianship worth listening to and examining”
—Connor Shelton, The Prog Report

“One of the best albums of the year … Original, creative, with a love of detail … a fantastic album … recommended for anyone looking for good music beyond the current hype. You won't be disappointed … Outstanding album”
—Nik Brueckner, Babyblaue-Seiten

“A great new release from a now legendary band”
—Mike Pollack, The Progressive Tracks Show

“A very rewarding album to get inside and quickly fall in love with … this is yet another exceptional release … For those who have yet to uncover the sheer delights of this incredible Minneapolis quintet, the time is now”
—Kev Rowland, The Progressive Underground

“It’s a stunning achievement, a fascinating & fully satisfying listening experience, hugely entertaining whilst keeping the brain agile”
—Jez Rowden, The Progressive Aspect

“100% pure Bubblemath … [Turf Ascension] keeps the Bubblemath essence alive, preserving their identity and nature, which is to push on the avant-garde”
—Lorenzo Barbagli, Altprogcore

“Bubblemath… excel among the champions of the most elaborate and complex prog … [Turf Ascension] pulsates with a constant creativity made up of continuous instrumental inventions”
—Lorenzo Barbagli, Prog Italia

“Does not sound like any other prog album you've heard … Turf Ascension will undoubtedly be one of the most present albums this year in the industry charts”
—Marco Sgrignoli, Ondarock

“Precise, crafted, clever forward-looking fluidly complex modern progressive rock and an impressive opening track … technically demanding on multiple levels … Bubblemath have a soul … this is complex jazz-edged clean cut progressive rock … this is a very (very) good album”
—Sean Worrall, Organ Thing

“Shifting time signatures, speculative fictive lyrics and, most importantly, ear-catching melodies. Bubblemath is a friendly and welcoming prog beast”
—Michael Toland, The Big Takeover

“The best prog band in the last decades … complex yet groovy prog. Definitely one of the best prog rock albums of the year”
—Daev Tremblay, Can This Even Be Called Music

“Brilliant, just brilliant!!!”
—New Dawn of Prog

“The best recreational combo on earth … an incredible sense of harmony … Bubblemath play in the here and now … softly sparkling … oblique and exploratory”
—Michael Haifl, SaitenKult

“Exceptionally ingenious music … strongly constructed composition and excellent instrument control, combined with a lived performance that really touches you”
—Xymphonia

“A perfectly coordinated band that is able to present extremely complex material with amazing ease”
—Jeürgen Meurer, Betreutes Proggen

“One of the top albums of the year … outstanding for many reasons … masterfully crafted, ever-changing time signatures; wonderful vocal harmonies … superb instrumental musicianship … Turf Ascension is one of those albums that you can listen to repeatedly … the complex, and at the same time accessible, music lets you discover new aspects, carefully developed details, and nuances in the arrangements and instrumental builds”
—Angel Romero, Progressive Rock Central

“A high-flying program: quality of writing, excellence of instrumental and vocal playing. For those who love sophisticated music with high musicality and perfectly fluid, this album is simply a must have!”
—Pierre, Prog Critique

Buy the album!
Bandcamp

Turf Ascension | Release Circuit 2022

Watch this space for tour dates

Who is Bubblemath?

Blake Albinson, James Flagg, Kai Esbensen, Jay Burritt, Jonathan G. Smith

Videos

Albums

Turf Ascension

June 2022

Blake Albinson : Guitar
Jay Burritt : Bass
Kai Esbensen : Keyboards, vocals
James Flagg : Drums, vocals
Jonathan G. Smith : Vocals, guitar

Bubblemath’s new album, Turf Ascension, is the finest progressive-rock album you’re ever going to read.

This is not to short-change the music on this four-song, 49-minute collection of shifting time signatures, swirling vocal harmonies, interstellar guitars, and rippling keyboard flourishes.

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bubblemath have taken full advantage of their hometown’s long winter nights to hone a singular style that’s at once thrilling, enthralling, and technically demanding on multiple levels. Including the lyrical content.

“In so much of the music that I love, the lyrics come across like they were just kind of chucked in as an afterthought”, says keyboard player and chief lyricist Esbensen. I can roll with that for the most part, but the more I like a song’s music, the sadder I get when the lyrics don’t measure up. So I just want to make sure that the lyrics for Bubblemath deserve the music of Bubblemath.”

“With this record, we really allowed ourselves to develop themes,” Esbensen contends. “If you listen to our first record, or even Edit Peptide, it’s like we have this mantra of, ‘Why repeat something four times if you can get away with only three?’ That kind of thing. ‘Why give the listener a chance to get bored? Switch it up! Keep it going!’ And with Turf Ascension, we were like, ‘Well, what if we just lingered on stuff longer, and built out the themes?’ Before, we would have gone, ‘Well, we can’t, in case it gets boring.’ But here the followup question was, ‘Okay, well, what if we just work really hard to not make it boring?’. Switching up the themes quickly in order to hold listener interest is obviously our comfort zone. So it was a fun challenge to let the themes evolve and flow in a way that we really haven’t ever done before.”

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Edit Peptide

May 2017

Fifteen years in the making, Minnesota eclectic prog / avant-pop / art-math quintet Bubblemath's sophmore sequence, Edit Peptide, provides a worthwhile wait with its non-formulaic formula of lively textures, wacky and virtuosic musicianship, hypnotically robust vocals and charmingly astute attitude. Blending in-your-face intricacy with eccentric experimentation, dense and poppy harmonies, symphonic vibrancy and tongue-in-cheek foundation, Bubblemath are clever and musicially intricate, but despite their loyal adherence to high information-density compositional constructs, they make serious and seriously quirky music that doesn't take itself too seriously and allows the fun to shine through. (from the Edit Peptide press release, Cuneiform Records)

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Such Fine Particles of the Universe

December 2001

Avant prog-pop jazzcore. Constantly changing odd meters; dynamic song structures and textures; vocal harmonies; unexpected melodies, chord changes, and harmonic voicings; quality lyrics; quirky humor.

Recorded and mixed by Alex Oana, these fine debut particles won "Best Eclectic Recording" at the 2002 Minnesota Music Awards. How eclectic!

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