Nat Bartsch - Forever Changed (2024) Hi-Res

Australian composer and pianist Nat Bartsch reflects on her sensory experience of music and celebrates her discovery of her autistic/ADHD identity in her immersive new album Forever Changed, this week’s Feature Album on ABC Classic. Bartsch recorded the album at home, with her partner and seven-year-old son sleeping down the hall, and it reflects on significant changes in her life, including divorce, new love and a new family.

“When everything changed, so did my listening habits,” Bartsch says. “Instead of turning to ‘meditative’ music in difficult times, I was drawn to a sensory-seeking wall of sound: artists like At the Drive In, Tears for Fears, Cornelius, Jon Hopkins and Floating Points. Consulting with other AuDHD people, and music therapists, I realised that I am not alone. Many neurodivergent people seem to find complex, detailed or dramatic music soothing. High pitched melodies, interlocking patterns, grounding rhythms. Richly layered, textured and varied sound.”

“Forever Changed is immersive music you can soak in, that explores these sensory needs,” she says. “The music has same gentleness and repetition as Forever, and No Time At All: but there is glitter and detail on top. Some pieces are solo piano lullabies for the corner of a room; others are multi-layered, ethereal works that create a room for the listener to step into.”