Jeremiah Chiu Edge Conditions is shaping up as one of the more intriguing solo debuts in the International Anthem catalogue: the Los Angeles synthesist has unveiled his first LP as a composer, with physical and digital editions arriving on 9 October, before the album hits DSPs on 27 October.
Chiu is best known as the synthesist in the LA improv quintet SML, but Edge Conditions marks a distinct move into solo territory, assembled with a cast of collaborators that reads like a who’s-who of the contemporary improvised and experimental music world.
Plastic Mind and the record that found its own direction
Lead single ‘Plastic Mind / Elastic Machines’ is already out, and it carries a lot of the album’s DNA with it. The track features field recordings from Takako Minekawa and a beat from Chiu’s SML bandmate Booker Stardrum, arriving alongside a video drawn and animated by Korey Martin, who also illustrated the album cover.
Chiu has been candid about how central the track became to the whole project. ‘It was truly the guiding beacon for the entire record,’ he said in a press release. ‘Prior to rediscovering this track, I imagined an album with a more defined ensemble that was less drum-centric. Once I heard this, I felt drawn to follow this direction and let it take me wherever it was headed.’
On Martin’s visual approach, Chiu added that the animator uses ‘repetitive visual motifs’ to ‘create a hypnotic quality that perfectly accompanies the song.’ It is the kind of marriage between sound and image that rewards patience, looping, accumulative, slightly unsettling in the best way.
A deep bench of collaborators on Jeremiah Chiu Edge Conditions
The record is far from a solo performance in any strict sense. Other players across Edge Conditions include percussionist Ben Lumsdaine, trumpeter Marquis Hill, Resavoir’s Will Miller, and Patrick Shiroishi on saxophone and field recordings.
Then there is Marta Sofia Honer. Chiu’s longtime collaborator appears on the album, and their working relationship runs deep. According to KLOF Mag, the pair have released three electro-acoustic duo albums together, including Different Rooms in 2025. That body of work gives some context to the chemistry you can hear threading through the record, even as Edge Conditions pulls in a wider ensemble sound than their duo sessions.
The full track listing runs eleven pieces: ‘Way In’, ‘A.M. Fuses’, ‘In Visibility’, the title track ‘Edge Conditions’, ‘Interfaces’, ‘Plastic Mind / Elastic Machines’, ‘Sentimental Object’, ‘Doubles’, ‘Non-narrative’, ‘A Floral Pattern’, and ‘Night Fog’. The sequencing suggests a record that moves from something like an entry point through to something more atmospheric and dissolved at its close.
Tour dates and the album release show
Chiu has also teased a US tour, with a handful of confirmed dates. Chicago’s Plantasia and Los Angeles’ Zebulon are on the list, alongside New York’s Public Records.
The New York date is particularly worth flagging for anyone in the city. DICE lists the Public Records show on 29 October as the official album release event, presented by International Anthem, and it is a 21+ night. That timing puts it just a couple of days after the DSP release on 27 October, so it will be the first chance for most people to hear Edge Conditions in a room with Chiu performing it live.
For a record that has drum patterns and field recordings at its core, a live setting is going to be the real test of how this material breathes outside the studio. International Anthem has built a strong track record of releasing music that rewards that kind of encounter. Edge Conditions is out 9 October on physical and digital formats, with DSP availability following on 27 October.
