*Announcing* MACIE STEWART - When the Distance is Blue // new album out March 21st
*announcing*
IARC0093
Macie Stewart
When the Distance is Blue
LP, CD, DD out March 21st, 2025
When the Distance is Blue is the International Anthem debut of Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter, and improviser Macie Stewart, and will be out on LP, CD and DD, March 21st. The albumโs lead single โSpring Becomes You, Spring Becomes Newโ is out today on all digital music platforms, and also comes via music video filmed and directed by Mikel Patrick Avery.
(( photos by Shannon Marks ))
Long-heralded in musician circles for her versatility, Stewart stands as a distinguished, go-to collaborator across genre and style, with a collaborative CV that reads like a dream year-end listโ performing strings for Makaya McCraven, Damon Locks, or Japanese Breakfast; singing harmonies with Tweedy; arranging for Alabaster DePlume, Resavoir, Mannequin Pussy, or SZA; co-leading the jagged art-rock experimentation of Finom, her duo with songwriter Sima Cunningham. Her varied-yet-distinct sound has led to a name recognition that goes beyond the devoted liner note enthusiast, with Pitchfork saying โMacie Stewart has had a hand in making some of the best tracks of the past five years transcendent.โ
Stewart describes When the Distance is Blue as โa love letter to the moments we spend in-between.โ The album draws its title from Rebecca Solnitโs book of essays, A Field Guide to Getting Lost. Stewart, too, contends with the longing for all that lies out of reach, and gives shape to that longing throughout this contemplative collection with a musical lexicon which lands somewhere between Alvin Curranโs Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden and Claire Rousayโs A Softer Focus. Here Stewart creates a striking and cinematic work through collages of prepared piano, field recordings from her various travels, and string quartet compositions featuring herself on violin, Whitney Johnson (aka Matchesse) on viola, Lia Kohl on cello, and Zach Moore on double bass.
โSpring Becomes You, Spring Becomes Newโ
Lead single โSpring Becomes You, Spring Becomes Newโ begins with a series of unmetered and searching prepared piano repetitions before blooming into a rhythmically pulsing waltz of ennui ร la Margaret Leng Tanโs approach to the material of Cage or Crumb. Electronically enhanced sustaining notes merge with droning violins in a dense teapot upper register, then are slowly paired away to reveal the inner layer of consonance and comfort, as the metallic rhythms of the prepared piano are co-opted by pizzicato plucked strings. When the sound of the piano re-enters itโs in its natural, unprepared state and in service of a simple melody. โ
This piece reminds me of a cross country train ride through different sceneries and landscapes,โ says Stewart. โItโs the feeling when youโre witnessing everything pass outside your window, knowing you may never set foot there.โ
The track also comes via a delightfully obtuse video, filmed and directed by Mikel Patrick Avery.
When the Distance is Blue
Live Dates
The When the Distance is Blue live ensemble features the string quartet heard on the record -- i.e. Macie Stewart on violin, Whitney Johnson (aka Matchesse) on viola, Lia Kohl on cello, and Zach Moore on double bass. Stewart and her ensemble have a handful of confirmed shows (info/links below), with more TBA soon.
...about Macie Stewart...
Macie Stewart is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter, and improviser based in Chicago, IL. Heralded for her versatility, Stewart works with piano, violin, guitar, voice, and synthesizers, effortlessly traversing styles and scenes. A distinguished, go-to collaborator who Pitchfork credits with โmaking some of the best tracks of the past five years transcendent,โ Stewartโs deeply humanist and often otherworldly capacities in deep listening have shaped each collaboration as much as her technical prowess and ingenuity. Aptly called a โmaster of equilibriumโ by DownBeat magazine, she has an uncanny ability to meet the needs of the music with precision and taste.
As a composer, Stewartโs work continues to dissolve the boundaries between disciplines. In 2021, she composed a piece for Hubbard Street Danceโs film, โHalf of Us,โ alongside Sima Cunningham. That same year, she worked with Sima Cunningham and Alex Grelle to produce a performance piece paying homage to Kate Bush. In 2022, Stewart composed the score for a 50-piece orchestra premiering the Pacific Northwest Balletโs โBefore I Was.โ And in 2023, choreographer Robyn Mineko Williams enlisted Stewart to create a sound installation for her dreamlike performance piece, Hisako House. Most recently, Stewart was invited to compose a site-specific piece for the ESS Florisonic Installation at Lincoln Park Conservatory. As part of the longest running sound installation in North America, their twenty-minute composition titled โThe World Doubles in Sizeโ played in the conservatoryโs fern room from September through November of 2024.
Stewart appears on records with International Anthemโs Makaya McCraven, Resavoir, Bex Burch, and Rob Mazurekโs Exploding Star Orchestra. Rooted in Chicagoโs jazz and improvised music community, she was a member of Ken Vandermarkโs avant-garde jazz group, Marker; co-created the improvised trio, The Few (with guitar player Steve Marquette and bassist Charlie Kirchen); and formed a duo project with cellist and sound artist, Lia Kohl (Macie Stewart & Lia Kohl). In 2014, Stewart joined with Sima Cunningham to form their experimental duo project, Finom. Since then, the band has released four records, toured extensively, and is celebrated as an avant-pop, art rock phenomena all its own. Finomโs latest release, Not God (Joyful Noise Recordings, 2024) is ripe with the unmistakable harmonies, cutting lyricism, and sonic landscapes that have captivated local and international audiences alike since the bandโs inception ten years ago.
Stewart has toured with Japanese Breakfast, The Weather Station, Kevin Morby, and Tweedy; performed strings for Resavoir, Lala Lala and Kara Jackson; and performed and arranged for SZA, Whitney, Mannequin Pussy, Tasha, and V.V. Lightbody. Fueled by what she describes as an essential cross-pollination of these projects and creative communities, Stewart released her solo debut Mouth Full of Glass on Orindal Records in 2021 (and re-released on Full Time Hobby in 2022). Self-recorded, self-arranged, and self-produced during the pandemic, Mouth Full of Glass received high praise, culminating in an international tour and a self-arranged 12-piece orchestral production of the record at Chicagoโs Epiphany Center for the Arts. Praised by Pitchfork for its blooming string arrangements, poetic lyricism, and โlush, baroque-tinged folk,โ Stewartโs debut showcased an artist adept at shaping othersโ sounds settling into her a voice all her own.
Deluxe Vinyl Package
When the Distance is Blue comes on a 140g Classic Black LP in heavyweight reverse-board jacket, with photo-strip insert sheet, IARC 2025 obi strip & poly-lined inner sleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K @ SST.
Available on limited edition "Glacial Blue" color vinyl for $29 USD.
Also available on classic black vinyl for $24 USD.
The ๐ช๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ฅ โ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐จ๐ก๐๐๐ is now available !!
It's a new season of new releases and the Winter โ25 Bundle collects all three of the new LPs announced this season (including Alabaster DePlume's A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole and Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes) and ships them to you as a single parcel.
Purchase gets you a bundle-exclusive discount of 10% off the LP prices as well as a discounted shipping cost.
The bundle will ship from our warehouses in the US, EU, and UK, but donโt wait too long, the quantity available in each warehouse is limited! Early purchase is recommended to ensure the lowest possible shipping, tax, and VAT costs.
All items will ship together in one package around March 7th, so you will receive one LP by its street date and the other two releases shortly ahead of their release dates. Bandcamp downloads will be sent via email for all the releases by, or on, the ship date. Thank you as always for your trust in our labelโs output and for your support <๐ฏ
