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Tenk van Dool / Paul Sears — Basal Ardor
(Bandcamp Deko Entertainment no#, 2026, CD )

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-03-23

Basal Ardor Cover art

Seems like just yesterday, but in fact it was two years ago that the duo of Tenk van Dool and Paul Sears released their debut collaboration Aperiodic Grok. Sears of course was previously the drummer for The Muffins (as well as a number of other bands and projects), and van Dool is from the Southern California based project Temple of Switches, playing guitar, bass, keyboards, and synthesizers, as well as being the primary songwriter (all the drum arrangements are by Sears, of course). Basal Ardor is their newest release, and it seems as if the partnership will continue onward, although both have a whole lot of other musical endeavors going. Various guest players are present on this track or that, most notably two members of Sears’ other current band Cho-Zen Few, woodwind player Ruben Riera and bassist / guitarist Steve Mitchell, as well as Dave Newhouse on woodwinds  on one cut, singer Clara Hembree (who sang with Temple of Switches at one point) and singer / lyricist Courtney Odom on another cut. All taken there’s a good variety of ideas here, going in a lot of different directions, but the gist is predominantly the instrumental work, beginning with the opener “King Koln,” an aggressive avant rocker that is a reworking of the track “Köln” from Aperiodic Grok, and naturally it’s king sized, a couple minutes longer and more cutting edged. The eight-and-a-half minute improv “Land of the Free” is one that involves van Dool, Sears, Riera, and Mitchell, with some wordless voice parts from Tenk; it’s a truly engaging ambient dreamscape with all sorts of unidentifiable sounds emerging throughout, it stands beyond classification; the rock elements are strong, but the improvised elements approach Sun Ra territory. Hembree lends her crystal clear voice to the remarkably progressive “Katie and Natalie,” seeming to elicit some of the album’s jazziest ideas, with Riera contributing a superb sax solo, while the instrumental “Tandem Trike to Tiburon” takes off in some unexpected psychedelic jazz directions. Odom is the featured singer on “1AM Geary Street,” a piece that seems to start at least partly improvised, but finds a trippy rock sound around its midpoint, while the instrumental “Head Scratcher” will indeed have the listener scratching their head wondering where this piece is going next. “Tribledation” features Newhouse on a track that sounds like it well could have been written just for him. In summary, with Basal Ardor, the listener gets a grand tour of a lot of interesting sounds bristling with creative energy.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Dave Newhouse (Manna / Mirage), Paul Sears, Tenk van Dool

More info
http://tenkvandoolpaulsears.bandcamp.com/album/basal-ardor

 

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