Matchess

Chicago-based musician Whitney Johnson records lush, haunting compositions under the name Matchess. Using pre-recorded cassette tapes, organ drones, delay-heavy vocals, and occasional passages of harsh noise summoned out of her viola, Johnson crafts a textural, ethereal sound heavy on rhythm and atmosphere alike. First issuing their music via limited cassettes, she released the exceptional Somnaphoria in 2015. Sacracorpa, which appeared in 2018, boasted clearer sound, but was no less haunting. Her 2022 album Sonescent was more of a long-form drone piece, inspired by a meditation retreat. 2024 brought two interrelated, simultaneously issued projects, Hav (under her own name) and Stena (as Matchess).