SPARKLE DIVISION

Sparkle Division emerged from the partnership of ambient composer William Basinski and his studio assistant Preston Wendel. Departing sharply from the somber, elegiac style long associated with Basinski, the duo delivered a buoyant and energetic 2020 debut titled To Feel Embraced that blended jazz, disco, lounge, and hip-hop elements, later expanding the approach on 2023's Foxy by incorporating drum'n'bass.

After spending decades in New York City, Basinski relocated to Los Angeles in the 2000s. There he brought on engineer and fellow composer Preston Wendel, prompting the pair to begin working together. Basinski retrieved his saxophone, and the two shaped exuberant tracks built from fractured beats, seedy sax lines, swelling strings, and floating textures. Free jazz legend Henry Grimes contributed upright bass and violin to one piece, while vocalists Leonora Russo and Xeli Grana appeared on others. Although To Feel Embraced was largely captured in 2016, the duo held back from issuing such an upbeat project amid ongoing political and environmental turmoil. Eventually they concluded the moment had arrived, leading Temporary Residence to release the album in 2020. For 2023's Foxy, Sparkle Division enlisted veteran engineer and producer Gary Thomas Wright, resulting in a denser breakbeat-driven collection framed around a '60s Hollywood fantasy narrative.