something good

something good is the debut album by claire rousay and Zander Raymond, based in Los Angeles and Chicago respectively. The origin of their working relationship is perhaps as enigmatic as the album itself: two artists, two places, and an open-ended exchange that gradually became something good.

A close collaborative work that deftly moves between pop song structures and new music abstractions, the album is a document of human imagination and the spaces where it happens – casual music made from domestic spaces. The artists use a wide array of instruments: piano, synthesizer, electric guitar, harmonica, pipe organ and vocals. The recording locations from homes to studios were equally diverse.

“It was made far more spontaneously… more just playing.” - Zander Raymond
 
Space and perspective, distance erased, fragments delicately layered. Void of phantom center.
 
 “...a document of ‘making a record.’” - claire rousay
 
Room sounds and reverb types all contribute to the listeners perception of place. The environment is not static or identifiable; instead, it is this music and these moments. Elastic in practice, something good’s processes became an integral part of the final album; a document of creativity and the spaces where it happened.
 
“Music making being a broad umbrella that spans from sitting down intentionally to compose and leaving a field recorder rolling…” - Zander Raymond
 
something good is something good – a musical exploration of creative ontology. Environs and singular sound combinations yield pieces that allow the listener to live in and around human imagination – a lovely domicile to explore and to inhabit. 
 
“The titles point toward this perfectly, all snippets of text messages from the inauguration of the collaboration.” - Zander Raymond
 
Recorded by claire rousay and Zandar Raymond
Mixed by claire rousay
Mastered by Sean McCann, lacquers cut by JJ Golden
Art and design by Zander Raymond, additional effects by Daniel Castrejón