Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart unite strings, voice, and analog tape manipulation to create BODY SOUND — an immersive work rooted in improvisation, intimacy, and spatial awareness. Built from viola, cello, violin, and wordless vocals, the trio’s music moves between tranquil drones and disquieting textures, shaped in real time through deep listening and instinctive response.

Embedded in Chicago’s rich improvised music community, their practice treats space as a collaborator. Physical rooms, emotional states, and resonant frequencies all become instruments. Recorded across three locations and co-produced with International Anthem’s Dave Vettraino, the album leans heavily into saturated reel-to-reel tape processes. Loops, edits, and manipulations act as “another layer of improvisation,” transforming spontaneous performances into sculpted compositions.

The result feels both ancient and experimental — a kind of fractured folk music refracted through analog psychedelia. Opener “dawn | pulse” drifts in bowed tonal clusters and breath-like swells, while “laundry | blood” builds dark, cinematic tension through looping cello and dense string drones. Elsewhere, tape artifacts, sub-bass vibrations, and fragmented textures blur the line between performance and post-production.

Across its 11 tracks, BODY SOUND balances serenity and abrasion, structure and collapse. It is spatial, tactile, and emotionally immediate — music that feels mysterious yet deeply human, intimate yet expansive.