- Self-help house four ways.
- Physical Therapy is an arbiter of transformation. Stylistically, the New York producer has become known for being unknowable. Under his main project, Daniel Fisher has a predilection for euphoric breaks, spacey house and 2-step—his Teardrops On My Garage EP was one of the best of 2022. And then there are his legion of aliases—so many, in fact, that in 2019, Fisher released a compilation of tracks from nine of his different alter egos. Still, no track is that far out from his work with his original alias. Each picks from Fisher's uncanny mood board of tech house, pitched vocals, slithering acid, analgesic dub and aqueous, stretched-out melodies. "The [aliases] started off more as fun little things to do," he explained in a recent interview with Mixmag, "but there's rarely a track that is so different that it couldn't come out of Physical Therapy too."
My Experience is an all-Physical Therapy production, but Fisher shreds and reconfigures lyrics to create alternate versions of one track in a way that implies the teamwork of his multiple personas. The four mixes of "My Experience" feature therapeutic affirmations recited by Fisher, with the vocals edited so heavily on each track that his vocals vary from drowsy and monotone mutters to brittle chirps. The shape-shifting lyrics which all return vaguely to the record's thesis—"Love is my experience"—inspire intentional quietude with grace and occasionally, humour.
The EP opens with "My Experience (Subjective Mix)," slippery tech house assembled from trenchant kicks and a slinky synth line. Fisher's voice, disguised, sleepily makes its way through the first round of affirmations: "I love myself / I am free from anger / I am free from sadness / Love is my experience." In the brief absence of his guidance, the track reaches its zenith within glistening trance. The following "My Experience (Objective Mix)"amplifies and distorts the original synth lead, transforming it into wonky acid noodles over ticking hi-hats. The lyrics, staccato and truncated, depict a more realist perspective: "Anger / Sadness / Is my experience."
On the track's "Unreliable Narrator Mix," Fisher's vocals become squeaky echoes fed into a blur of industrial-dub, and the affirmations sprawl from platitudes like "I am happy and healthy" to "I do not feel the constant pull of my phone like a black hole in my pocket," words punctuated by pitch modulation that rapidly oscillates Fisher's vocals from monstrously low to cotton-candy high. On the final version, "Unreliable Narrator Dub," the driving pulse of the former iterations dissolve further into a celestial, trudging beat and the vocals implode, ghostly asides barely detectable amid the sludge.
Tracklist01. My Experience (Subjective Mix)
02. My Experience (Objective Mix)
03. My Experience (Unreliable Narrator Mix)
04. My Experience (Unreliable Narrator Dub)