Plenty have heard the trippy, left-field production of Nosaj Thing. Yet, as is the case with so many beatmakers, his behind-the-scenes work has often remained in the shadow of the larger stars it has helped propel into the limelight.

Jason Chung (aka Nosaj Thing) got his first big break with an assist from Chance the Rapper’s breakout project Acid Rap. The mixtape’s second track, titled “Pusha Man,” finds Chance gleefully giving listeners a taste of a newly minted confidence in his voice. It’s not long, though, before everything goes quiet for a spell before giving way to a hidden track, “Paranoia.”

Featuring an off-kilter, stuttering drumbeat paired with sparse, reverberant, submarine synth chimes, this deceptively simple beat works well with Chance’s bleak narrative, which outlines the horrible state of gun violence and drug abuse in his hometown of Chicago.

Four years earlier, the producer snagged his first major production credit on Kid Cudi’s studio debut, Man on the Moon. The track sampled Nosaj’s bubbling, atmospheric track “Aquarium.” Unfortunately, the song—titled “Man on the Moon (The Anthem)”—was released only on the record’s deluxe edition as a bonus track, despite being a title track of sorts.

In the time since, Nosaj has been busy building a solid body of work that ranges from minimalist and ambient electronic music to glitched-out hip-hop in the vein of fellow L.A. beatmaker Flying Lotus.

On his forthcoming album, Parallels, the producer is aiming to challenge himself. “My previous records reflected the anxiety of living inside my own imagination,” Chung says. “For Parallels, I went outside of that: It’s all about trying new things, creating new worlds.”

The album’s lead single “All Points Back To U” sounds cold and frayed. The song cobbles itself together as menacing low-end synthesizers take hold amid a drum track that could have been lifted from an early-aughts Burial track.

Through the course of the song he adds and subtracts elements seemingly at random. An extra layer of drums here, some shimmering choral synths there. It’s in these little flourishes that Nosaj Thing truly shines.

A minute in, London-based singer Steve Spacek’s distressed voice gives the song new depth. Spacek sounds almost ghostly, punctuating his performance with whispers and groans.

Parallels is due out early next month, but before that release happens, he’ll be bringing San Jose a taste of the new project with his show at The Ritz, where he’ll appear alongside Com Truise.

Nosaj Thing
Aug 31, 8pm, $18+
The Ritz, San Jose