WATCH / LISTEN TO WHITNEY JOHNSON’S “VARI” WATCH / LISTEN TO MATCHESS’ “IN SLEEP”
“I am living a double life.” This is how Whitney Johnson, a.k.a. Matchess, once described the co-existence of her alter egos: the musical entity Matchess, and the sociologist of sound known in academia as Whitney Johnson. With the dual existence of Hav and Stena, both out September 27, these two identities now stretch and twist across each other to create hypnotic, engaging new parallels: two distinct albums from two different artists. In demonstration, two new singles/videos materialize today: “Vari”, taken from Hav, and “In Sleep”, from Stena.
Hav and Stena are a co-existing pair of records — one from Whitney, the other from Matchess — that challenge linear description. Perhaps the best way to think about these two releases is the idea of doubles: doppelgangers, alter egos, evil twins, mirrors, polarities, impostors, shadows. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Whitney Johnson and Matchess! The upstanding researcher, and the deranged artist. By the same token, the two singles released today are mirrored objects: like-poles that intriguingly share the same sine wave composition, but otherwise repel. “Vari”, a soothing (perhaps even healing) composition from Hav, evokes a peaceful zen through each of Whitney’s ringing marimba hits; “In Sleep”, on the flip side, is Matchess’ sonic journaling, a hissing, buzzing soundscape with jagged, granular textures floating in tides of unconsciousness. Even the music videos sit in balance: waterfronts in motion accompany “Vari”, while ancient stones linger in monochromatic distorted footage for “In Sleep”.
Both albums began to exist in 2021, while Whitney was researching the cult of Hermaphroditus — a Greek divinity who symbolized the unity of male and female — visiting all the available sites of the cult’s activity while traveling through Cyprus and Greece and collecting field recordings throughout. During these travels, Whitney read Shelley’s Frankenstein for the first time. It hit deep; she’d referred to Matchess’ previous release, Sonescent, as “the last minutes in the life of music.” A sequel to that harrowing moment, Hav and Stena feel within and without themselves like creatures of post-mortem assembly, collaged more than birthed. Hav's pieces were first constructed as a multi-channel A/V installation at Inkonst (where Whitney was an artist-in-residence last fall); Stena sifts through fragments of once-was, surgically bonded and given electric shock treatment to induce the music of Matchess.
Crucial to Hav and Stena's dissection is how these records resonate in the body: the Solfeggio Frequencies, a conception in sound healing, are referenced often in these new works. “Sound is so amazing and insane”, as Whitney puts it, “the way it is just pressure on air that ripples onto your body, [into] your ears, and then it becomes this entire meaningful system that defines our lives.” Now brought to life, together and separately, Whitney Johnson’s Hav and Matchess’ Stena arrive September 27, 2024.
Matchess is currently on tour! Performing in trio and quartet form with Haley Fohr, Jenny Pulse, and Alan Sparhawk; tickets are on sale now. | 
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