Hellbent Daydream, out February 20, 2026 via Pyroclastic Records, debuts Seabrook’s quartet with pianist/synth player Elias Stemeseder, bassist Henry Fraser and violinist Erica Dicker.
“During the past decade or so, the fiercely dexterous New York musician has launched a number of bands combining serious chops with manic intensity and a left-field compositional vision.” – Hank Shteamer, Rolling Stone
“[Seabrook has] become a resident chaos architect within the Brooklyn avant-garde scene—exploring everything from jazz-fusion to brutal prog to other untamed strains of heavy rock.” – Ryan Reed, Premier Guitar
There seems to be an inherent contradiction to Hellbent Daydream, the title of the mesmerising new album by the restlessly adventurous guitarist and banjoist Brandon Seabrook. The first half of the phrase suggests a manic urgency, a fervour in pursuit of a desperate end. It rests uncomfortably next to a word that evokes a sense of whimsy and aspirational reverie, a momentary escape into a flight of wistful fancy.
Seabrook’s music has always thrived on such conceptual collisions, however, and one listen to his audaciously imaginative new quartet album reveals that Hellbent Daydream is an ideal title, no matter how far one is asked to warp one’s perspective to grasp its meaning. In Seabrook’s mercurial compositions, the visceral and the fanciful coexist in a kind of skewed harmony.
Set for release on February 20, 2026 via Pyroclastic Records, Hellbent Daydream arrives on the heels of two equally daring but wildly different releases for Pyroclastic: the 2023 octet album brutalovechamp and the acclaimed 2024 solo outing Object of Unknown Function. The new album marks the debut of an unconventional new quartet, with Seabrook joined by bassist Henry Fraser, violinist Erica Dicker and Elias Stemeseder on piano and synthesisers. The line-up offers Seabrook an expansive and curious palette and collaborators who share his inquisitive instincts. It is an elaboration of a trio that Seabrook has led for the past few years with Fraser – a longtime collaborator in a variety of contexts – and Dicker.
“Henry and Erica blend together so well,” Seabrook says, “and after a number of gigs together we discovered that we all shared an amazing chemistry. They both bring an excitement, a verve and an intensity to the music. Then I thought that the addition of Elias’ piano and synth would allow the music to become more cinematic and open up some more of the emotional exposition.”
This eccentric conglomeration of voices invited a number of wide-ranging influences to swirl together in Seabrook’s hazy, fervid musical daydreams. The dark theatrical storytelling of Stephen Sondheim melds with the rich, insinuating harmonies of late-era Beach Boys; Chopinesque chamber romanticism is roughened by the countrified grit of Appalachian folk melody.
The explicit American influence, most evident on “The Arkansas Tattler” – its title a mischievous play on the classic folk tune “The Arkansas Traveler” – is particularly surprising given how fiercely Seabrook has resisted it until now. In the past he approached the banjo in opposition to its traditional context, employing it for blistering, shredding riffery more heavy metal than homespun. That influence isn’t wholly absent either, as Seabrook’s carnal virtuosity emerges at the overdriven climax of the somnambulent danse macabre “Name Dropping is the Lowest Form of Communication” or in the agitated, monolithic strings of “Existential Banger Infinite Calling.”
The dream imagery that recurs in the album’s track listing and in its entrancing moods is a guide to the music’s surreal logic, a narrative flow that makes an emotional sense if not a linear one. “Human beings are creatures of story,” Seabrook concludes. “Experimenting and searching for new ways to tell stories and bring the listener along is important to me. I really wanted this album to dwell in that daydream landscape, still subversive but in a more welcoming atmosphere.”
@Reuben Radding
Brandon Seabrook
Brandon Seabrook is a NYC-based guitarist and banjoist. His music fuses a wide range of traditions, including punk rock, jazz, pop and metal. As a guitarist his work feeds off tactile sensations: rapid tremolo picking, contorted clusters, and extreme physicality. As a composer and band leader Seabrook has released eleven albums of original music and has performed this music at festivals like Big Ears, Jazz Em Agosto, Centro D’arte, Jazz Is Dead, Moers Festival, Angel City Jazz Festival, as well as bespattered DIY venues throughout the land. Along the way he has collaborated and recorded with Joey Arias, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Anthony Braxton, David Byrne, Mike Watt, Ghost Train Orchestra, Frank London and Ingrid Laubrock, among many others.
Pyroclastic Records
Pianist-composer Kris Davis founded Pyroclastic Records in 2016. By supporting artists in the dissemination of their work, Pyroclastic empowers emerging and established artists to continue challenging conventional genre-labeling within their fields. Pyroclastic also seeks to galvanize and grow a creative community, providing opportunities, supporting diversity and expanding the audience for noncommercial art. Its albums often feature artwork by prominent visual artists—Ellsworth Kelly, Julian Charriére, Dike Blair, Raymond Pettibon and Gabriel de la Mora among recent examples.
Brandon Seabrook – Hellbent Daydream
Pyroclastic Records – PR 45 – Recorded September 2024
Release date February 20, 2026
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