Sally Decker

Sally Decker is a composer, performer, and writer based in Oakland, CA. Her work explores the subtle emotional body and sound as a vessel for practicing presence. Her approach to form and process is psychological and sensory, rooted in the intent of strengthening a reflective focus toward our internal intuitive worlds. Recent interests include feedback systems, the voice, and utilization of language in performance.

In The Tender Dream—Sally Decker's first album under her own name—feels vulnerable and intense, like locking eyes with a stranger across a room, taking a breath, and staring deeply. In the record’s distended drones, chattering poetry, cosmic synth work, and gentle ambiance, Decker dives back and forth between chaos and order, turmoil and respite. Prickly, pointillist pieces like the title track give way to more restful moments like the centered, self-assured “Affirmation"[s]. Drawing on her background as a writer, she puts words to the feelings that for so many, for so long, have remained shapeless and unsettled. There are stormy feelings captured in these pieces, but there’s peace too if you’re willing to listen for it.

'In The Tender Dream' is out now on NNA Tapes.