Macie Stewart - When The Distance Is Blue Vinyl LP

When the Distance is Blue is Macie Stewart’s International Anthem debut. The Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser describes the album as “a love letter to the moments we spend in-between,” realized through a deliberate return to piano—her first instrument and the root of her creative expression. Stewart crafts a cinematic and striking work through collages of prepared piano, field recordings, and string quartet compositions, creating a transient universe that traces the arc of her musical past.

Renowned for her versatility, Stewart is a sought-after collaborator across genres, performing strings for Makaya McCraven and Japanese Breakfast, singing harmonies with Tweedy, arranging for Alabaster DePlume, Resavoir, Mannequin Pussy, and SZA, and co-leading the art-rock duo Finom with Sima Cunningham. On When the Distance is Blue, she unites these threads into a contemplative eight-piece song cycle with contributions from Lia Kohl, Whitney Johnson (Matchesse), and Zach Moore. The result is an album whose musical language sits between Alvin Curran’s Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden and Claire Rousay’s A Softer Focus.