Joanna Mattrey & Steven Long - Strider

Recorded upstate on the coldest day of 2022 and afterwards in a Brooklyn apartment, Strider is the first recording of longtime duo Joanna Mattrey and Steven Long. This recent work is inspired by their track ‘Lazulum’ on Mattrey’s album Dirge (Dear Life Records, 2021). Joanna approached Steven with the concept and challenge to make a record of ambient songs. The small pieces are each defined by only one character, which should not be developed, and must remain within the natural range of one clear idea. Sticking to song length, rather than the longer, durational approach of most ambient music, Strider is a collection of concise and melodic, static songs.

For the making of this record, Steven and Joanna banged, blew on, and bowed various dusty pieces of junk, antiques, and old metal franklin stoves that filled her family’s house in upstate New York. They also stood bravely in the 6 degree weather to capture the field recorded sounds of the mighty Hudson River’s giant floating ice chunks clanging into each other as they passed by. The record also features a 1970’s electric Kimball organ, a child’s toy keyboard, a collection of synths, a short-wave radio and the curious and magical Stroh Violin.