Phosphorus by Christos Hatzis

Phosphorus was written soon after the death of Cameron Haynes, the nephew of Hatzis’ wife. After a year-long battle with cancer, Cameron passed away just after his 25th birthday. Throughout his life, Cameron suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, requiring extra attention and care from his family and those close to him.

Mysterious yet playful, Phosphorus opens with the marimbist playing a series of inquisitive phrases peppered with rolls, while the digital audio provides a steady crotchet pulse of marimba pitches beneath. After arriving at a long pause consisting of eerie electronic ambience, we are eventually introduced to our MC, who informs us that “Today we are talking about the phosphorus.” However, the voice and its underlying electronic beat quickly dissolve and the marimbist’s phrases resume, with rolls now dominating more of the material, while vestiges of the MC’s “phosphorus” chant periodically emerge from the backing track….