It goes without saying, but eighteen hours in New York City is nowhere close to enough. Though short, it was all I got. But luckily for me, when my night’s plan revolves around a 10k Global event, less than a day can fit a lot more fun than I would’ve imagined.
Anysia Kym and Tony Seltzer dropped their collaborative album Purity at midnight on Friday, September 12th. I was listening to it by 9:00 a.m. that morning on my drive to New Haven Station to catch my train into the city. I probably should’ve waited to listen till it was being played live in front of me twelve hours later. Not the longest wait, but I couldn’t help myself. This was one of the most intriguing collabs that was coming out during arguably the most packed summer of music since 2016.
I’m no expert on the life or work of Anysia Kym, having only discovered her music through her album Truest in 2024. That album put me on to a world of texture and ease that I had not typically come across in experimental R&B or electronic music. What I learned from my multiple listens, and a look into the artist behind it, was that Kym was a well-versed producer and percussionist, with a deep knowledge of building a soundscape, and what excited me most was that she seemed to be discovering her voice before my eyes. There’s something special about hearing a certain hunger and excitement that only really exists in someone finding their footing. It’s a rawness that kept Truest on repeat for me.
In the case of Tony Seltzer I knew a bit more, as he had worked with artists that I had been longtime fans of, with astounding recent tapes with the likes of MIKE and Wiki. The common theme I saw through these projects he was doing with these underground household names was that he was helping them find a new mode. Neither needed it, both having a ton of success on their other work, but Seltzer was able to provide a sonic background that gave them the foundation to try something new and exciting.
Seltzer and Kym coming together was hyping me up for two major reasons. The first being that both had an immense knowledge of drums and percussion elements in hip-hop and R&B, so I knew whatever I was going to be hearing from them would be a likely masterclass in rhythm. The second reason being that Anysia Kym has been building towards coming into her own as a vocalist for years, and there’s probably no one better in our contemporary production landscape to uplift her like Tony Seltzer. I knew the two could only elevate each other.
After a day of exploration, a visit to our friends at Loudmouth Records, one train fuckup and a stop at MIKE’s DJ popup event in Soho, I found myself in the middle of a crowd at Public Records in Brooklyn, with the duo together on stage ready to play through their album.I gotta say, listening through Purity in the car may have been a mistake, because it would have been unimaginably cool to get my first listening experience be it being performed in front of me. Still, it offered really great context to the difference a live performance of the album made.
The album is great and features every aspect of both artists’ musical capabilities that I’m such a fan of. But the live rendition was just super fucking cool. Anysia stood up there with the smile of someone who just hit a career milestone, her presence both calming and confident, and she slid into the first song of the set with no delay. One of the most exciting parts of the performance for me was Tony Seltzer playing live drums behind her. The two would share glances as if parts of a well-rehearsed band, though it would later be said by Kym that they had never played together before. Tony’s live percussion threw me fully into the music in a way that made it almost unrecognizable from my original impression. His brother joined the two on stage with an electric bass, completing the trio, with Kym on vocals and operating an SP404 for sound FX and instrumentals from the recorded album.
They played through Purity in order, giving a slight twist on each song as Tony’s drumming made for a rolling cinematic feel to the chops and samples of the production. Kym thrived off the energy, and loosened up as they got deeper into the set. Only four songs in they performed their lead single from the project, “Automatic,” which the audience (myself included) begged to be played again. As they progressed deeper into the album it began to feel almost like a psychedelic experience, with the bass shaking the whole room and Kym’s vocals becoming like a siren song that made my head bob automatically. There was something really fun about being immersed in what felt like a whirlwind of psych rock, R&B, electronic music and still hearing the “Tony” producer tag that pops up in a number of Seltzer songs coming out of the speakers. The trio made their way through the tape, receiving tons of applause before delving into Anysia’s older work playing songs from her older projects and even inviting MIKE on stage to perform his verse on “In Doubt.” At this point everyone was having fun, and the two shared an embrace on stage as she got ready to transition to the end of the night.
The whole room shouted “Hey Tony!” together with Kym in unison as she spammed the sound effect on the 404, smiling at Seltzer and shining some light on the prolific producer before running back “Automatic” and giving the crowd exactly what they wanted. The set was over as quickly as it had all begun, but I was standing there elated, taking it all in and feeling grateful to have gotten two of the most essential yet different listening experiences I could get from an album.
Eighteen hours in New York is never enough, but thanks to Anysia and Seltzer it was more than enough time to have a dual musical experience that I won’t be forgetting any time soon.
SoundFynd 