Like a feather in the wind or the global stock market, all of us are subject to stochastic drift. For Sam Barker, the metaphor of a winding path has been meaningful in recent years. “This made it quite hard to engage in a rule-based or goal-based approach because it seemed like every goal was changing from one week to the next.”Barker’s second LP, Stochastic Drift, is both a synthesis of his wilderness years and a thrilling inflection point. The strict parameters that guided his early records’ zero-gravity rush have dissolved into freeform experimentation, allowing his tracks to billow and burst as the mood demands. Across the album, Barker blurs analog and mechanized instruments into gauzy clouds, jazzy ambiance, and elegant percussion.