Photos: EXCEPTET Releases "Chopsticks" Single Ahead of EPISODIC MEMORY Album
Percussionist David Stevens plays a chopstick-strung guitar on the track from the Brooklyn ensemble's upcoming release.
Brooklyn ensemble Exceptet, the 'cleverly-named...pocket orchestra' (New Sounds), has released 'Chopsticks,' the first single from its forthcoming album Episodic Memory, a full-length portrait of works by composer Brendon Randall-Myers. The album arrives on October 9, 2026, on cmntx records.
'Chopsticks' sets the tone for the record to come, pulling in equal measure from modernism and metal, with a heavy dose of hazily remembered West Virginian folk music running underneath. At the center of the track is an unconventional instrumental trick: a guitar tuned to an open D minor chord, laid flat and strung with its namesake utensils, then played by Exceptet percussionist David Stevens with a second pair of chopsticks. The result is a sound closer to a hammered dulcimer than anything typically asked of an electric guitar. Driving rhythms send high-register melodic fragments flying outward like shards, building into a stuttering refrain that touches off a sequence of irregular blasts from the brass — a jolt of an ending that lands as abruptly as it satisfies.
The track offers an early glimpse of the sound world Randall-Myers built for Exceptet across Episodic Memory, an album that moves from the folk-inflected invention of 'Chopsticks' through the murder-ballad darkness of 'Lie Down' and into the twenty-five-minute title-track odyssey that closes the record, an exploration of how the brain processes trauma and the necessity of change. Equally at home in the concert hall and the mosh pit at St. Vitus, Randall-Myers writes music that deconstructs and distorts haunting refrains with an energy drawn from rock, experimental, and classical traditions alike.
Exceptet will perform the album in its entirety in a release show on Tuesday, October 13 at 7pm at Brooklyn Art Haus. Chamber folk violinist Theo Haber opens the show.
Episodic Memory marks Exceptet's second full-length release, following the ensemble's 2025 debut Tree Lines on New Focus Recordings, and continues the group's ongoing commitment to commissioning new works from emerging composers.
About the Composer
Brendon Randall-Myers is a composer and guitarist who creates intricate and visceral music at various intersections of rock, experimental, and classical. His music has been described as 'astonishing, transfixing, soul-piercing' (Last Rites), 'an unflinching testimonial on grief and endurance' (Pitchfork), and 'a trance that's always in motion' (Bandcamp Daily).
Brendon co-leads microtonal metal band Scarcity and is a member of electric guitar quartet Dither. He co-founded math rock band Marateck and avant-rock multimedia collective Invisible Anatomy, both active from 2014-2020. Brendon was a member of the Glenn Branca Ensemble from 2016-2020, initially as a guitarist and later as conductor after Branca's death in 2018. With these groups and others, Brendon has performed in clubs, concert halls, and basements around the world, including the Barbican Theatre (London), the Venice Biennial (Italy), and the Forbidden City Concert Hall (Beijing).
Current and recent projects include 'Aveilut' for the String Orchestra of Brooklyn with Scarcity's vocalist Doug Moore; 'A Collective Landscape', an evening-length work developed with pianist Miki Sawada and Lakota vocalist Chaz White Feather; and 'Only in the Dark', a concerto for cellist Annie Blythe to be performed by Contemporaneous and the Symfonie Orkest Nijmegen.
About Exceptet
Described as a 'cleverly-named…pocket orchestra' (New Sounds), Exceptet is an 'eclectic' and 'quirky' (New Yorker) ensemble reimagining Stravinsky's classic Soldier's Tale instrumentation for the 21st century. With a 'chattering, post-minimalist sound' (New Sounds), 'rambunctious, minimalist, alt-pop energy' (I Care If You Listen), and 'excellent playing' that makes for 'an appealing, imaginative listen' (Fanfare), Exceptet has continued to commission emerging composers and expand the contemporary repertoire.
Founded on and dedicated to commissioning new works from young and emerging composers, Exceptet has brought to life over 20 new works for its unique instrumentation, including pieces by Rome Prize-winner Katherine Balch, a trio of works by Brendon Randall-Myers, and compositions by Scott Wollschleger, Fay Wang, Finola Merivale, and more. Exceptet is a recipient of a 2026 grant from Chamber Music America's Ensemble Forward program, funded through the generosity of the New York Community Trust.
Exceptet is: Chuck Furlong, clarinet; Allison Nicotera, bassoon; Evan Honse, trumpet; Dan Linden, trombone; David Stevens, percussion; Sarah Goldfeather, violin/voice; Catherine Deskur, double bass.
Release Details
Single 'Chopsticks'—August 26, cmntx records
Album Episodic Memory—October 9, cmntx records
Album Release Concert
Tuesday, October 13 at 7pm
Brooklyn Art Haus, 24 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
