After working in music theatre, sound art and performance contexts, Kapriole is the debut album by Zurich- and Hamburg-based artist Leo Hofmann. Central to the album, which refers in its title to a joyous jump (in classical horse riding as much as in life in general), is the ambition to translate an ephemeral practice into recorded matter. Fixed but never static, Kapriole is informed by intimate and detailed listening situations and sound practices like ASMR or the acoustically sheltered world of noise cancelling headphones. And while it’s apparent that Hofmann has a deeply rooted understanding and command of technology and its abundant possibilities, Kapriole is a tender and almost analogue feeling affair: as in his performative practice, the human voice occupies a central role in the musical configuration of the album. Quirky repetitions, hushed fragments and poetic statements circling topics like communication, mobility, and immersion occupy the album’s eight tracks. The result is a sonorous sensation, which, in its scarcity, paves the way for meticulously crafted and delicate soundscapes. Kapriole as a joyous jump which is technological as much as it is emotional.