Juan J. Ochoa – “Something to Remember”

Juan J. Ochoa is a Barcelona-based pianist and composer, and Something to Remember is his fourth solo album, out now on Protomaterial Records.

The album is built around the prepared piano, a technique where objects like screws and felts go inside the instrument to change how it sounds. Ochoa has been working this way for years, and on this record it shows. He’s not experimenting for the sake of it. Every track has a reason for sounding the way it does.

The opener, “Alone”, was recorded during pandemic lockdown on an upright piano that was slightly out of tune. He kept it and didn’t re-record it clean. That choice tells you everything about what kind of album this is. “Hannah” takes it further. Screws on the strings produce tunings that feel genuinely unsettled, which fits. The track was inspired by a novel about a dual gender transition. The music doesn’t try to explain that. It just sits in the same discomfort. My favorite is “Paradise Found”.

The closing three-part piece, “Earth”, moves from electronics to solo piano to synthesis across its movements. It’s a slow, patient conclusion to an album that never rushes anything.

Something to Remember is available exclusively on Bandcamp and on vinyl through Soundohm. Follow Juan J. Ochoa on social media to keep up with whatever he does next.