Modern Composition L.A. is dublab’s cross-genre radio series examining the dynamic, new music emerging from Los Angeles. Each installment focuses on an individual composer’s contribution to the city’s fertile sonic landscape. Through in-depth interviews, illuminating recordings, and the premiere of a new work by the featured composer, we illustrate how these distinct artists are shaping Los Angeles and how the city has influenced them. Modern Composition L.A. surveys the wide-spectrum music endemic to Los Angeles—sketching a panoramic view of this ever-evolving creative climate.

This episode features Emily Lacy, a sound artist exploring the folk idiom from a space rooted in experimental music. With a background in film, Lacy plays with time and space to create powerful works documenting internal and external landscapes. Her work swings from the personal to the powerfully universal—oscillating from protest anthems to intimate poetics. Her performances and recordings reflect themes of social justice—utilizing vocal techniques such as shape singing and a capella, electronic music elements, constructed environments and physical recorded media. On this episode of Modern Composition L.A., Frosty visits Lacy’s studio to hear about her process-based practice. She shares a selection of music that’s impacted her greatly and unveils her new series of sonic paintings. The episode concludes with the premiere of a brand new work by Lacy.

Modern Composition L.A. is made possible through a generous grant by the California Arts Council.

You can hear the entire series unfold at: moderncomposition.la.