Saajtak premieres music video, “Concertmate 680,” off upcoming album

The Detroit-based improvisational electronic art-rock quartet Saajtak have just released the third single from their upcoming album, For the Makers, which will be out on June 3 on American Dreams Records. The latest single is titled “Concertmate 680,” and Saajak recently premiered an accompanying music video for the song, captured using a 3D camera.

Alex Koi sings and writes the lyrics of Saajtack; Ben Willis plays bass; Jonathan Barahal Taylor plays drums and Simon Alexander-Adams contributes keyboard and electronics. For the music video, Alexander-Adams additionally offered his expertise in developing interactive multimedia to create a digitally psychedelic visual.

Saajtak’s compositions are rooted in collective improvisation; their first release, spectral [ drips ], collects several free improvisations. The band was recording music live for a full-length debut when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic pressed pause on their principal way of making music. In response, the band began working on new music remotely, in increments of eight days. Every two days, members would trade songs, gradually sculpting them into final iterations.

Throughout, the album mixes the organic and synthetic. Koi talks about retaining that inherently human element amid a predominantly electronic milieu, while also creating a sense of a poly-narrative through her lyrics.

Find Saajtak on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Bandcamp.

Listen: CultureShift’s Jeff Milo speaks with Alex Koi about upcoming album, For the Makers.