Claire Rousay
A Softer Focus
Release Date: Apr 9, 2021
Genre(s): Electronic, Experimental
Record label: American Dreams Records
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Album Review: A Softer Focus by Claire Rousay
Great, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
On a softer focus, claire rousay has delivered both her most accessible and compositionally daring album to date. Past releases have often relied on some combination of field recordings culled from daily routine, audio snippets of candid conversations among friends and the suggestive percussion of everyday objects gently colliding. That version of rousay's work may feel unrewarding to those who prefer more concrete melodic or rhythmic signposts in their music.
Based on rating 7.6/10
For claire rousay, ambient composition is not just a studio practice; it concerns real bodies in physical space. As a percussionist turned sound artist, the San Antonio-based musician has put out a whopping 19 releases since 2019, many featuring dizzying noise and free jazz that demonstrate her focus on live performance. Her work has increasingly incorporated a broad variety of sounds from unlikely sources; records like 2020's a heavenly touch wrung haunting beauty from processed field recordings and tender piano arrangements, while both and it was always worth it used rich, textural electronics to induce ASMR-like effects at the lowest threshold of audible perception.
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