Gone before it ever gets there.

Joshua Crumbly has spent his career in some of the more demanding rooms in music. A bassist who turned professional at 10, studied at Juilliard, toured with Terence Blanchard and Kamasi Washington, and played on records by Bob Dylan and Big Thief, Crumbly carries an unusual amount of experience into everything he makes. How I Feel Sometimes is his most minimal and unconventional release yet, an eight-track ambient electronic project that clocks in at just under 11 minutes and largely sets aside traditional song structure in favor of sound design and percussion.

The album opens with “robot,” which is exactly what it sounds like. Chords sit underneath layers of synthetic mechanical noise, and the track moves without much direction or melody. “hahahah” follows with a slow-rising swell that builds tension and then deflates, a single gesture that makes up the entirety of the track. “me” is one of the more grounded moments on the record, built on warm chord pads and light percussion that give it a bit more forward motion.

“great path” brings in swung hi-hats, claps, snares and a square-wave lead, staying basic by design and moving with the efficiency the album seems to prioritize throughout. “ahh” is the most melodically developed track here, using noise and air textures alongside actual melodic phrasing to create a brief but more complete feeling. “a day in the life” leans almost entirely on percussion with little else added. “church,” the album’s lead single, pairs a swung arpeggiated lead with claps and a restrained bass line and comes closer than anything else on the record to building real momentum, cycling through different sections and reaching a bouncy groove before fading out. Closer “speak it” rounds things out with eerie chords and creative percussion choices.

How I Feel Sometimes is built around sound design and rhythm rather than songcraft, and with a runtime this short, there is not much room for ideas to breathe. Every track exits just as it starts to take shape, leaving the album feeling more like a collection of sketches than a finished statement.