Seven Years Later, Dis Fig Follows Up Her ‘PURGE’ debut

Dis Fig by Camille Blake

It’s been seven years since the promising PURGE debut of Berlin-based Dis Fig (who graduated from Randolph High School in Morris County when she was only known as Felicia Chen). Thrill Jockey is getting ready to finally release her follow-up, What To Make Of These Mortal Hands, on October 23. In the meantime, its first single, “The Account,” points to even more of an avant-garde presentation as it opens, not with her voice, but with the spoken words of the poet known as the wind between. Fig explains, "I liked teasing it by opening with a voice that wasn't mine. I felt like I really needed someone to set the stage for what was about to unfold, like a Greek chorus or narrator, and it was clear to me that he was the right person to do it."

As the tracks on the new album unfurl, dynamic arrangements are juxtaposed with eerie cinematic electronica soundscapes hidden under distortion, fuzzed-out bass and the kind of sub-frequencies that add heft, power and confusion. As she says, “a throughline for me is trying to create a womb-like space through sound. I wanted this record to feel like stepping into its own distinct world. It’s meant to be a portal with a guide, taking your hand and inviting you in with care."  Ostensibly about the dual capacity of us humans in reckoning with simultaneous destruction and revelation, Fig sings with an air of resignation yet hopeful beauty.