*Different Rooms* by Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer / LP/CD/DD out THIS FRIDAY June 20th
Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer
Different Rooms
LP, CD, DD out this Friday, June 20th, 2025
(+ out in full on streaming platforms July 8th)
"Listening to this record is like wading through a rocky stream bubbling with meandering wisps of digitized nostalgia. That gentle feeling of peace only found on a listless summer evening with the beauty of this life wrapping you in a warm embrace." - Justin Smith, Euclid Records (Seattle, WA)
"Our favorite hometown duo return to IARC with fresh sounds that feel comfortably familiar. Always a buy on sight, but the Jeff Parker and Josh Johnson features make this a certified turntable staple all summer long." - Jonny Garciaros, In Sheep's Clothing (Los Angeles, CA)
"When Marta and Jeremiah's first album dropped, we eagerly stocked it in our growing International Anthem section. After a couple of listens, it was clear that this was unlike any other release the label had done so far; its subtle complexities of violin, synth, and concrète sound felt worlds away from jazz, or any other genre, really. It sounded obscure and remote, yet somehow universal. One had to google the location of the Åland Islands, and even then it was hard to imagine exactly where they were. Not knowing either of these artists by name, it felt safe to assume they were Finnish or Estonian or something. Then several customers came in asking for the record by name, with a few mentioning that they knew Marta from their childhood days. When their collab album with the legendary Ariel Kalma was released, Marta's mother came in to pick up a copy. Turns out, she lives down the street from the shop, and Marta grew up right here in Madison. The universe had indeed come to us. We've been looking forward to a follow-up release from them, and 'Different Rooms' is a sweet reward, an album of pure music that transcends the straight-forward output of its instrumentation. PS... Abolish ICE."
- Evan Woodward, Strictly Discs (Madison, WI)
Different Rooms
documentary by David Burkart
Dive deep into the making of Different Rooms in a new mini documentary by David Burkart.
(( Photo c/o Jonny Garciaros of In Sheep's Clothing, Los Angeles ))
!!! Buy it IRL !!!
Different Rooms is available in record stores worldwide this Friday June 20th, weeks before the full album hits streaming platforms.
To encourage the timelessly rewarding, communally generative experience of buying records from your friendly neighborhood record store... we've compiled below (and here on our website) an incomplete list of record shops that have confirmed to be stocking the album this weekend. Support local business, support the essential historical, archival, cultural industrial work being done at your favorite record stores!
London, UK - Rough Trade
London, UK - Stranger Than Paradise Records
London, UK - World of Echo
Los Angeles, CA - Amoeba Music
Los Angeles, CA - Healing Force of the Universe
Los Angeles, CA - In Sheep's Clothing
Loveland, OH - Plaid Room Records
Madison, WI - Strictly Discs
Manchester, UK - Piccadilly Records
Marseille, FR - Bazar Musiques
Miami, FL - Sweat Records
Milano, IT - Serendeepity
Milano, IT - Volume BK
Milwaukee, WI - Acme Records
Minneapolis, MN - Electric Fetus
Montreal, QC - Atom Heart
Montreal, QC - Aux 33 Tours
Montreal, QC - Le Backstore
München, DE - Echt Optimal
Nashville, TN - Grimey's
New Orleans, LA - Domino Sound
New York, NY - Rough Trade
Norridge, IL - Rolling Stones
Norwich, UK - Venus Vinyl
Nottingham, UK - Nottingham Record Co-op
Oak Park, MI - Street Corner Music
Omaha, NE - Homer's Records
Orlando, FL - Park Ave. CD's
Ottawa, ON - Birdman Sound
Oxford, MS - The End of All Music
Oxford, UK - Truck Music Store
Paris, FR - Balades Sonores
Phoenix, AZ - Stinkweeds
Phoenix, AZ - Zia Records
Portland, ME - Bull Moose Music
Portland, OR - Clinton Street Records
Portland, OR - Everyday Music
Portland, OR - Mississippi Records
Portland, OR - Music Millennium
Portland, OR - Passenger Seat Records
Princeton, NJ - Princeton Record Exchange
Reggio Emilia, IT - Tosi Dischi
Richmond, VA - Plan 9
Richmond, VA - Small Friend Records & Books
Roma, IT - Radiation
Rome, IT - I Want to Believe Records
Salerno, IT - DISCLAN
San Francisco, CA - Amoeba Music
San Luis Obispo, CA - Boo Boo Records
Santacangelo di Romagna, IT - The Book Room
Seattle, WA - Hex Enduction Records & Books
Seattle, WA - Silver Platters
Seattle, WA - Sonic Boom Records
Somerville, MA - Vinyl Index
St. Louis, MO - Euclid Records
Tokyo, JP - Harunoame Cafe & Records
Tokyo, JP - Rana-Musica Record Store
Torino, IT - Les Yper Sound
Toronto, ON - Sonic Boom
Totnes, UK - The Drift Record Shop
Treviso, IT - Moving
Troy, NY - Sound House Records
Vancouver, BC - Audiopile Records
Vancouver, BC - Dandelion Records
Ventura, CA - Salzer's
Wallingford, CT - Redscroll Records
Wien, DE - Substance Recordstore
Winnipeg, MB - McNally Robinson
Winooski, VT - Autumn Records
Zapopan, MX - Tea Recs
Akron, OH - Square Records
Amsterdam, NL - Rush Hour
Asheville, NC - Harvest Records
Austin, TX - End of An Ear
Austin, TX - Waterloo
Baltimore, MD - Sound Garden
Bari, IT - New Records Bari
Belfast, UK - Sound Advice
Berkeley, CA - Amoeba Music
Berlin, DE - HHV
Berlin, DE - Rough Trade
Birmingham, AL - Seasick Records
Bloomington, IN - Landlocked Music
Boise, ID - Record Exchange
Bologna, IT - Disco D'Oro
Brescia, IT - Kandinski
Brighton, UK - Mr. Bongo
Brighton, UK - Resident Music
Brisbane, AU - Quiet Storm Records
Brooklyn, NY - Finer Sounds
Calgary, AB - Blackbyrd Myoozik
Calgary, AB - Melodiya Records
Canada - Rotate This
Catani, IT - Rock 86
Charlotte, NC - Lunchbox Records
Cheltenham, UK - Badlands Record Shop
Chicago, IL - 606 Records
Chicago, IL - Dusty Groove
Chicago, IL - Laurie's Planet of Sound
Chicago, IL - Rattleback Records
Chicago, IL - Reckless Records (Belmont)
Chicago, IL - Reckless Records (Loop)
Chicago, IL - Reckless Records (Wicker Park)
Chicago, IL - Tone Deaf Records
Cincinnati, OH - Shake It
Coventry, UK - Just Dropped In
Cremona, IT - Music Cremona
Davenport, IA - Ragged Records
Dearborn, MI - Dearborn Music
Denver, CO - Twist & Shout
Denver, CO - Wax Trax
Dresden, DE - Sweetwater Record Store
Durham, NC - Chaz's Bull City Records
Düsseldorf, DE - A&O
Edinburgh, UK - Good Vibes Neighbourhood Store
Edmonton, AB - Blackbyrd Myoozik
Edmonton, AB - Listen Records
Encinitas, CA - Lou's Records
Faenza, IT - Casa Del Disco
Ferndale, MI - Found Sound
Florence, IT - Contempo Records
Forli, IT - Rock 86
Fredericton, NB - Backstreet Records
Genova, IT - Disco Club 65
Glasgow, UK - Some Great Reward
Grand Prarie, TX - Forever Young
Grand Rapids, MI - Vertigo Music
Hamburg, DE - Groove City
Hamburg, DE - Michelle Records
Hamburg, DE - Zardoz
Heidelberg, DE - Musikzimmer
Heidelberg, DE - Musikzimmer
Indianapolis, IN - Luna Music
Iowa City, IA - Record Collector
Kasai, Hyogo JP - Tobira Records
Kingston, ON - Something Else Records
Lawrence, KS - Love Garden Sounds
Leigh, UK - Sticky Black Tarmac
Little Rock, AR - Control
Liverpool, UK - Dead Air Records
London, UK - Dreamhouse Records
London, UK - Honest Jons Records
(( photo by Colin Patrick Smith ))
Different Rooms finds synthesist Jeremiah Chiu and violist Marta Sofia Honer returning to a collaboration that, with the March 2022 release of their critically-lauded duo debut Recordings from the Åland Islands, initiated an epically prolific run for both artists in their own rites. In the wake of performances to support Åland Islands, in 2023 Chiu toured the US opening for M83 and released the solo recording In Electric Time, an album of in-the-moment synth-based compositions captured on analog tape at LA’s Vintage Synthesizer Museum. During that time, Honer was busy doing strings and arrangements for recordings and performances by International Anthem artists Makaya McCraven and Daniel Villarreal; she also contributed viola to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, Kendrick Lamar’s GNX, and various projects with Adrian Younge’s Linear Labs Orchestra, among many others. Chiu and Honer worked together with Ariel Kalma on the three-way collaborative album The Closest Thing to Silence that released in early 2024, just months before the LA trance-jazz supergroup SML, which is co-led by Chiu, released their groundbreaking self-titled debut album. This protracted, two year run of activity and growth for the two musicians crescendoed into a moment of opportunity for them to conceptualize and compose the new duo work that would become Different Rooms.
Different Rooms collects songs and musical motifs composed, edited, and collaged by Chiu and Honer in the weeks between late 2024 and early 2025. Except for pieces composed from improvisations recorded with Jeff Parker and Josh Johnson in 2023 (heard on forthcoming singles “Side by Side” and “Different Rooms,” respectively), most of the ideas were initially developed during live performances on the duo’s fall 2024 EU tour, then fully realized when they returned to their home studios to record, arrange, and shape the music into album form in the beginning of 2025.
About the process, Chiu and Honer say: “This record marks an evolution in our approach to studio production. Our studios are side-by-side. When we were writing this album, you might have found us tracking viola stacks in one studio while, in the other, we were writing through-composed themes and rearranging the material. Granular synthesis and tape manipulation are key tools we use to create variation and movement in a composition. This process often yields surprising results, capturing the emotion but expressing it in unexpected ways. It feels essential that we embrace a bit of chance.”
Contrary to how Åland Islands – with its interwoven field recordings and atmospheric improvisations captured in the hyperreal landscapes of an archipelago in the Baltic Sea – completely transported listeners to another place, with Different Rooms, Chiu and Honer say “we want this music to meet you where you are.” It’s a decidedly urban album; field recordings still have a presence, but they come from scenes on train platforms, city streets, and rooms in their home, painting a quotidian sonic image that blurs the line between what the listener hears in their own environment and what is on the record.
The sonic and temporal abstraction between what is performed in real-time versus what is recorded, manipulated, and collaged is perfectly encapsulated in the album’s title Different Rooms, which literally refers to the fact that the material was recorded in different spaces, while figuratively reminding us that our shared experience of present time is one that is asynchronous, historied, and complex.
Deluxe Vinyl Package
Different Rooms features album cover art by Sam Prekop, and comes on a 140g LP in a heavyweight reverse-board jacket, with IARC 2025 obi strip & poly-lined inner sleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K @ SST.
Available on Limited Edition *Battiato Brick* Color vinyl for $29 USD.
Also available on Classic Black vinyl for $24 USD.
The SPRING ‘𝟮𝟱 𝗕𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘 is now available !!
The Spring ‘25 Bundle collects the three new International Anthem LPs announced this season (IARC0096 Resavoir & Matt Gold - Horizon, IARC0097 Ben LaMar Gay - Yowzers, and IARC0098 Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer - Different Rooms) and ships them 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 don’t snooze, 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 June 13th. Bandcamp downloads will be sent via email for all the releases by, or before, the ship date.
Order the bundle on Limited Edition Color Vinyl
Order the bundle on Classic Black Vinyl
