Witness
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Witness exists in the interstice between my witnessing and my desire to be witnessed. It is the proof that I have seen things that I will not forget: a series of musical journal entries that were made in a period defined by historical atrocities, and defined by coming to terms with that witnessing. It is simultaneously an expression of my desire to be witnessed: that in being witnessed, there might be proof of my witnessing. Taken as a whole, Witness seeks to enact a recursive loop of witnessing and being witnessed. The act of bearing witness is the impetus for this music. And the need to be witnessed is the impetus for sharing it.
Witness begins with "the scream," a document of a scream that I let out without any witnesses present, on a graffiti-covered footbridge made from a train car in a quiet corner of Detroit's Belle Isle park. This scream was something I had visioned and journaled about for over a year before executing it. I imagined a cathartic, beautiful scream into a void, treated with a ritualistic respect. On a sunny June afternoon, on a day where personal and global crises converged, I made my way down the hiking path to the bridge pictured on this album artwork. I let out eight screams and listened to them as they bloomed and echoed throughout the park and over the Detroit River, into Canada.
Proceeding from this intense introduction, Witness continues with expansive compositions that develop from static beginnings into intense rhythmic surges. “everything is broken” begins in stillness with an ambient Fender Rhodes introduction, developing toward an ecstatic climax and ending in a brash, distorted denouement. “i wear holes in all my shoes” wallows in stasis, living in a pensive interiority that ultimately blossoms into an anthemic ending. “alleluia” serves as a healing balm, with a chorus of voices soaring over and around each other before climaxing in a heavy rhythmic pattern.
What are we to do
Sick’ning trauma every day
I can’t bear to be
Michael Malis - compositions, samples, synthesizers, piano, fender rhodes, accordion, etc.
Chris Koltay - producer, recording engineer, mixing
Recorded at High Bias Studios 2024-2025, Michael Malis's home, 2024-2025, and the Belle Isle Train Bridge, 2025