High Octane - Zachary Askew Cook

Commissioned by and written as a virtuosic encore piece for the Ensemble du Bout du Monde’s 2025 Liminality tour, Zachary Askew Cook’s High Octane is a furious meditation on the pace and pressure of modern life. The composer describes a world driven by relentless productivity: where artificial intelligence accelerates output, devices are indispensable tools of every profession, caffeine fuels long days, and stress has become a permanent companion. In such an environment, speed and efficiency are prized above reflection, and the demand is not only to work quickly but to do so flawlessly - and with a smile.

High Octane translates this reality into sound through a high-energy, aggressive language. A heavy bass groove anchors the ensemble, symbolizing the crushing weight of impossible standards, while shrieking upper registers channel the eruption of inner rage. The work becomes both a critique of productivity culture and a cathartic release, balancing drive with defiance.

Humor is not absent from the piece: Cook himself admits that High Octane is also a tribute to his “raging caffeine addiction,” celebrating his new Nespresso machine with the same unrestrained energy that propels the music forward. The result is a work that is at once biting, visceral, and unapologetically wired.

(Program note written by Don-Paul Kahl, based on texts by Zachary Askew Cook)