We love the name of the Normal Community High School Experimental Ensemble, but even more, we love the fact that it actually exists. There’s nothing normal about this ensemble, save for the fact that it comes from Normal, Illinois. The 2000-strong high school offers a wide variety of incredibly awesome activities (Film and Animation Club, Mindful Iron), but the crown jewel is their Experimental Ensemble, which already has four albums under its belt, listing as few as eight players (ironically on the set Budget Cuts) and as many as twelve. A Moment of Yet was “composed and recorded throughout January and February of 2026 in an unconventional classroom at NCHS,” and two months later is being released – amazingly – on vinyl.
First off, let’s dispel any prejudice about age. Many accomplished composers began even younger – Mozart, Chopin, Deutscher. Ólafur Arnalds was only seventeen when he wrote his first tracks for a German metal band ( ! ). NCHSEE has the massive advantage of having people of like mind in the same place at the same time, a minor miracle; along with the potential disadvantage of members who graduate and move on. To this we say: stop studying! You don’t have to graduate! Better to ignore that last part, we don’t mean it. Learn all you can; it’s already making a difference.
Extra credit goes to the art team of Stefan and Andrea, as the cover art displays the collage-like creativity of the ensemble. In short, the music sounds like the art looks: carefully placed, yet not aligned, colorful, but not uniform. The deeper one goes into the album, the more experimental it gets, and yet it remains accessible.
The title track “A Moment of Yet” sets the stage with a languid approach, peacefully intertwined (wordless) vocals and a radio-friendly length. All in all, it’s a beautiful piece, suffused with a love for music and the literal finding of one’s voice. After establishing this quiet baseline, the ensemble begins to branch out, launching “To Listen” with tentative percussion, causing the listener to lean in, taking full advantage of the stereo experience. Soon the saxophone will enter, leading a host of other instruments, jazzy and sedate. By the end, the music is a shimmer of grace.
Stay with us now, because track three is titled “Track 14.” The album’s most compact piece is awash in percussion and brass, its steady tempo allowing the other instruments to travel. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the violin, making the most of its limited time, wishing it could stay longer. By “Fragments of It,” the experimentalism is on full display, and over the course of the album, a host of unconventional high school instruments will be introduced: harmonium and euphonium, radio and turntable, duduk and shakuhachi. As befits the track title, the center splinters off into different directions, all wrapped around a chewy caramel center.
“A Moment to Breathe” pushes the set into abstraction, while its title suggests not only inhalation and exhalation, but a rest break for the hard-working students and advisors. The idea is extended in “SLOW DOWN! The Fall,” whose energy crackles and fizzes, marked by playful turntablism and a sense of sonic exploration. The instruments wander in a fog, occasionally bumping into each other and sharing enchanted greetings. Finally, “Return” does what it promises, wrapping back to the beginning with magical voices and a transcendent tone.
We were highly amused to see Black Flag Bonsai Club describe the ensemble as “rad,” because we thought that term was dead. Is the ensemble lit? Gas? Straight fire? Should we clock the album? Does it smack? NCHSEE definitely ate that; it hits different, and they should flex. Will any of these words mean anything when their next album is released? It doesn’t matter, because a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. Let them cook. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 