On Psaltery, Dis Fig transforms an ancient string instrument into the entrance point for something startlingly contemporary. The piece begins with Felicia Chen delicately plucking the titular zither, disregarding its conventional bowed technique, beneath vocals that feel almost weightless. The fragile intimacy is steadily invaded by sub-bass, distortion and dense electronic pressure, until the track breaks open into one of her most visceral and exhilarating constructions.
“The psaltery is interesting, it’s not an instrument I’ve had the chance to see anyone else playing,” she says. “You’re supposed to bow it, but I don't really like the way that sounds. I love picking up instruments with no intention of perfecting them, and finding my own way of tuning it and finessing it.”
The song is the second preview of What To Make Of These Mortal Hands, Dis Fig’s first solo album since 2019’s PURGE, due October 23rd. 2026 through Thrill Jockey.
Conceived as a sequence of interconnected scenes, the 63-minute record confronts humanity’s simultaneous capacity for wonder and destruction through drastic dynamic shifts and emotionally charged arrangements. Psaltery captures that duality in miniature, allowing reverence and violence to occupy the same unstable space.
Photo by Camille Blake
ZR