The work of Whitney Johnson aka Matchess is, in their own words, “a material history of reproduction.” From our grateful vantage point, it sounds like sequences of hypnotic and engaging forms, a combination of musical concepts and available materials for the purpose of transcendence. ‘Hav’ and ‘Stena’ challenge linear description, and even language, reflecting the perceived values and details of multiple times / intentions / places into essential aspects, repurposed as music. ‘Hav’ and ‘Stena’ began to exist in 2021 while Whitney was researching the Cult of Hermaphroditus and visiting all the available sites of the cult’s activity in Cyprus and Greece. She collected materials from the sites via VHS footage, 35mm photos, and field recordings. The cover image for ‘Hav’ is from that trip, as are some of the field recordings included on ‘Stena’. During her travels, Whitney read Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ for the first time. It hit deep – she’d referred to Matchess’s previous release, ‘Sonescent’, as “the last minutes in the life of music.” As a sequel to that harrowing moment, and with respect to Shelley, the two new releases feel within and without themselves like creatures of post-mortem assembly, collaged more than birthed. ‘Stena’ in particular sifts through fragments of once-was, surgically bonded and given electric shock treatment to induce music. Its sequence contains a hidden cover of The Nuns’ ‘It’s a Dream’.