David V Britton is all about atmosphere. Growing up in upstate New York and currently residing in Brooklyn, perhaps the most important quality to be found in his music is the center it finds around a feeling of space. His music is a reminder that the universe is mostly sweet and unencumbered distance, weaving a sonically palpable yet bodiless synthesis of existential anxiety. 

Britton creates most of his sounds not with traditional instrumentation, but with samples, at times microseconds long, in order to create boundless acoustic environments that feel both otherworldly and familiar. While it may be classified as “ambient electronic”, Britton’s sound is anything but. An acoustic tapestry that negotiates an active participation with its listener, his tracks are drenched in nostalgia. The organic sounds culminate in a landscape of distorted reality; a cohesive yet distinct collection of music.

Britton’s first EP release, Qualia, is an experiment in the potential of samples and granularity. Nearly every sound heard across the record is sourced from a component of Britton’s own life and creative inspirations, leaving listeners to ponder whether they really have heard that piano part somewhere before. However, don’t expect to be able to know for sure, as every sound has been processed into a shadow of its former self through Britton’s synthesis techniques, encompassing both the digital and analog world. The result is a music that feels at once foreign and familiar, built out of the known made new, an “underwater acid trip with Dave Portner and Brian Eno.”

Qualia ⁠— ‘modifying characteristics of subjective experience;’ the blueness of water ⁠— is Britton’s exploration of that very concept; those moments and sensations that cement themselves in our minds, yet somehow remain ineffable, like the shimmer of that pool in July. Love, loss, and the cyclical stasis of the senses. Qualia is the clasps at the end of a necklace; the theme of duality that exists and brings together all actions and events. Of course, on the face of it, this appears as subtext in the tones and textures Britton cultivates.  

Up until now, Britton has primarily written music for visual mediums, his compositions heard on sites like Topic and in installations like Manifest 1.0, where Britton worked alongside R&B/Funk musician, Sunni Colon, in sampling his music for a three hour long sound installation. Films with Britton’s fingerprints have been heard all over, from South by Southwest to New York Film Festival. 

Outside of his more art focused work, Britton has mixed commercials for PBR, Samsung, and iRobot’s Roomba (an overhyped product, in his opinion). He has also mixed shows like Beachfront Bargain Hunt and Southern Charm, and done sound effects editing for History Channel’s Cars That Made America and Netflix’s Reversing Roe. His work has involved him with NYLON, Gucci, The Atlantic, Bai, Tribeca Film Festival, Zoom, and DRØME.

Naturally, the differences between composing music for others and creating on his own are striking, David says: “maybe the biggest thing I noticed is that the music I write for me is, in fact, for me. It’s imbued with certain emotions, whether that’s because of my headspace at the time, what I was envisioning as I created sounds, or even what samples I chose to use. I’m not 100% sure. Every song has a certain adherence to a core idea or principle, even if that’s not present in any lyrical or immediate sense.” 

Mixed by Artur Szerjecko of  Roofer’s Union and mastered by Grammy nominated engineer Mike Tierney (Julia Wolfe, Ritual Talk), Qualia is on a path to challenge the notion of sampling itself through a unique vision of music making. Britton demonstrates his ability to craft a complex soundscape that is textural, cerebral, and dreamlike. He challenges us to a unique auditory experience that can prompt the chaos and calmness of memory - seemingly conflicting feelings, all at once.