“I'm becoming less and less interested in virtuosity and gear,” declares Ka Baird in The Wire 428. “Even melody is starting to slip away!” The New York based multi-instrumentalist is discussing her latest album Respires which, she says, is the result of a new and simplified approach to writing music. “I'm incredibly interested in some kind of trance instead,” she continues, “or something, a way to leave reality and go into another one.”

Baird's flute playing and music have become more focussed and stripped back on this record – she now channels any surplus energy into intense live performances. “It's one continuous flow with no stage banter. I'm interested in the spaces between precision and something unrestrained... I guess [the audience] are watching me go through some kind of personal journey and maybe joining me.”

Respires is released on 25 October by RVNG Intl. Read Claire Sawers's full interview with Ka Baird in The Wire 428. Subscribers can read it online via the digital archive.