A Whisper in the Noise

Influenced by artists ranging from Bob Dylan and Roger Waters to Philip Glass and Arvo Pärt, Minneapolis-based A Whisper in the Noise was formed in 2002 by West Dylan Thordson, who grew up on a large patch of farmland in the rural Minnesota town of Hanska (population 365). As an adult, Thordson moved into the abandoned elementary school he attended as a boy, where he composed in the music room in which he'd played as a child and wandered the empty halls at night. This dark, dramatic sense of loneliness and solitude informs the moody, atmospheric sound of the music he makes wi...