Matchess

*In process of stocking* With Sonescent, Matchess unifies her folk-psych pop and experimental styles in a transcendent full-album trip unlike anything she's done before. After hearing songs in her head during a 10-day silent meditation retreat, Whitney Johnson gathered a band of Chicago contemporaries (Haley Fohr, Rob Frye, Tim Kinsella, Kalina Malyszko, Brian Sulpizio) to realize her arranged recollections of the tunes, the sounds of which she then passed through an atmosphere resembling the one in which she first heard the songs. Sonescent presents an astonishing depth of ambience representing the ecosystem that is our body, with the songs almost obliterated behind the humming, rushing and beating of our natural listening environment. A deeply stimulating piece on memory and perception and music's ability to survive, Sonescent is one of 2022's most magnificent new music releases.