Marisa Anderson, William Tyler – Lost Futures

The kindred musicians first collaborated in the days following a Portland show commemorating the life of the late David Berman. Anderson says, "There was an obvious and immediate affinity musically and personally that led to the feeling that we should try to do something together, but in January 2020 we both had pretty full schedules, so it was more of a vague idea to do something one day ... then COVID hit." With touring off the table and the mounting tensions of isolation, civil unrest and ecological disaster, the duo began composing and collaborating remotely. Tyler joined Anderson in Portland for a week before recording as protests escalated across the city and raging wildfires spread a dangerous haze. Against the turbulent backdrop, the duo found harmony in their rapid, organic development as a compositional team. Lush ballads and breezy rambles blossomed as the duo explored new rhythmic techniques and worked out unused riffs. Uniting to meditate together on their musical practice, the two guitarists composed music full of the joy of playing together, while having a sober tone that reflected the restless state of the world around them. Lost Futures takes its name from writer Mark Fisher's cultural theory about the loss of potential futures, the hopes and ideals that once felt inevitable but have since been interrupted.

Anderson and Tyler's use of textural drones, rhythmic repetition and harmonic shifts embody the building tensions of uncertainty created by profound loss: Loss of life, experience, camaraderie, compassion. "For every choice made, every path taken, there are a multitude of choices not made, paths not taken," Anderson notes. "At the Edge of the World" manifests the energy of eternal momentum through the staccato jabs of string player Gisela Rodriguez Fernandez and the clicking of Patricia Vázquez Gómez's quijada. The unison melody of "Pray For Rain" sounds like a chorus, collectively asking when relief will come. A drone-via-repetition on "Something Will Come" conjures a sonic mirage that suspends reality as subtle but revealing changes seethe from the haze. Yet hope and catharsis find a way to shine through the mire in the duo's realisation of space and tonal balance. On the title track, Lost Futures, Anderson and Tyler's lullaby-like countermelodies wrap around each other with the gentle ease of a friendly embrace.

In Lost Futures, Anderson and Tyler shape their instruments into breathtaking panoramas of rot and bliss. Each movement contains a dense biome of transportive sounds. The duo's collaborative music reckons with mounting pressure as well as the joy of newfound friendship and gratitude at being able to play together. In tandem, Marisa Anderson and William Tyler have composed a work of remarkable breadth, brimming with radiant odes of consolation.