There are albums that shout. Albums that strive for acclaim, for hits, for precision.
REAL PERSON is not one of them.
This new release from New York-based experimental trio Occurrence is something else entirely. It’s a confession whispered through synths. A sonic diary stitched from vulnerability, grief, friendship, and the deep, complicated love between people who create together. It doesn’t aim to be a “follow-up” to Real Friend. It’s a world of its own—imperfect, ambient, emotionally raw, and unmistakably human.
It all started as a quiet detour. “As we were recording our last album Real Friend, we began working on these more experimental instrumentals,” says bandleader and composer Ken Urban. “They weren’t meant for the public. They were us, trying to translate what people meant to us—writers, artists, friends. Each track was a feeling.”
But what began as personal reflections became something larger. REAL PERSON captures fleeting but profound moments of connection, transforming them into sound. It’s a collection where ambient pieces act as emotional portraits, where spoken word becomes a love letter, and where genre rules melt into texture, intuition, and spirit.
One of the most poignant tracks was born while vocalist Cat Hollyer was recovering from COVID. “Ken texted me from the studio saying he was working on something ambient to soothe me,” she recalls. “I didn’t think anyone else would ever hear it.” That intimacy remains in the final track—soft, spectral, like light through a fever dream.
Another highlight is the song honoring Wayne Feldman, a close friend of the band. Using a decades-old home recording of Wayne playing the banjo, Ken manipulated the material into a pulsating techno banger—at once absurd and joyful. Memory becomes movement. Nostalgia becomes dancefloor catharsis.
And at the heart of the album lies a track simply titled with the name of Johnny—Ken’s romantic partner and bandmate. Actor Ryan Spahn reads aloud words Ken wrote to Johnny to define “what love is.” It’s tender, vulnerable, and unlike anything you expect from a pop or electronic record. The song becomes a mirror—one that reflects connection in its most unguarded form.
Still, Johnny is clear: REAL PERSON isn’t meant to follow in the footsteps of Real Friend. “This album was a chance for the three of us to reconnect with Occurrence’s experimental past,” he shares. “To play with sound and texture in ways that go beyond traditional song structures.”
This spirit is beautifully captured in “Olga Tokarczuk”, a track inspired by the Polish Nobel laureate and her novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. “We loved how the book broke genre boundaries and constantly made us question the protagonist,” says the band. The song channels that same unpredictability, refusing resolution, embracing ambiguity.
REAL PERSON is not here to entertain. It’s here to feel. It’s here to remember.
It’s here to prove that music can still be an act of care. That a synthesizer can hold grief. That a beat can carry love.
With this release, Occurrence offers not just an album, but a gesture:
Of affection. Of curiosity. Of shared silence made audible.
And in that, REAL PERSON becomes what its name promises—honest, alive, and unforgettably real.
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