SYMBIOSIS is the followup to brien hindman’s 2018 debut, cognitive buffer hypothesis. five years in the making, BRIEN HINDMAN pairs with several groundbreaking and personally inspirational artists on SYMBIOSIS. IMMINENT and IVARDENSPHERE take turns pummeling the listener with colossal percussive noise on 'vestigial structures'. EVA|3 amplifies an aching sense of loss on 'bereavement' with trademark execution of his buchla music easel and a very special patch from the syntrx II. hindman crafts a track depicting self-doubt as an aural infection of the creative process by pairing speaker-blowing sonic assaults from THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE with his own woozy ambient soundbeds. the oldest track on the album, 'eosophobia', was conceived circa 2018 on hindman’s birthday during a retreat to idyllwild in the san jacinto mountains of california. the track features haunting vocals and violin from MEREDITH YAYANOS of the parlour trick, and channels the dread of a nocturnal creature confronting dawn’s first light. 'primordial soup' is an intense conclusion to the album that boasts contributions from TIM KNIEP of synapscape to a berlin school-inspired 3.7 billion year trip back in time to the spontaneous formation of organic compounds and the beginning of life itself. as lead composer and arranger, as well as engineer, BRIEN HINDMAN ushers listeners through these cinematic soundscapes both capably and kindly. as a guided sonic journey, the full album invites a wide range of emotional states: grief, anxiety, isolation, serenity, introspection, even ecstasy, as well as offering fascinating glimpses into various chapters of hindman’s evolving narrative as an artist. a slow-rolling series of songs crafted in partnership and cooperation in a time of rampant societal antagonism and aggression, SYMBIOSIS is, to its core, a transformative work.