Theory Therapy 92: matryoshka
Music for renewal
Theory Therapy 92 comes from matryoshka, following her newly released, diaphanous debut album Blasé Saint on sferic.
The Seattle-based producer’s mix traces a space somewhere between dub techno, ambient rap and late-night introspection, guided by a sense of seasonal shift – “opening to feel like the sun was setting and then unfolding into an airy, liminal spring night.”
Hey Jacqueline – how are you today?
hello! i'm great today. the weather was beautiful. i got to have dinner at an uzbek restaurant with my friends before one of them caught a flight back home and before i started a road trip. a lot of movement.
What was the last song you listened to?
mattress by jawnino & deer park
Where’s your favourite place to listen to music?
for me, it really depends on the time and place's harmony with the music itself. if i were to pick one, i'd say i enjog listening to music while walking in the woods.
You’re based in Seattle – does the city find its way into your sound at all?
i was born here, and then spent a large chunk of my childhood in eastern washington before coming back almost a decade ago. there's a sea of memories here for me so the influence is there whether i want it to be or not.
Are there any non-musical influences – films, places, people – that fed into the album in a meaningful way?
films - some of my favorite directors are maya deren, andrei tarkovsky, theo angelopoulos, abbas kiarostami, claire denis, apichatpong weerasethakul, gakuryu ishii, maria klonaris, & katerina thomadaki.
Your work has a strong sense of identity – did you go in with a clear vision, or did it take shape as you were making it?
there is always a vision at first but i tend to let each track take shape because there's really no way to flawlessly project an image inside of my head into reality. i don't want it to perfectly resemble what's in my head anyways, because what plays out in the material world is in constant conversation with my imagination. it's a way for me to ger out of my head. i don't want to make solipsistic art.
Talk us through your Theory Therapy mix – where did it come together, and what headspace were you in at the time?
spring is my favorite season, my birthday is coming up in june. i was excited to make something with an energy of renewal in mind. i wanted the opening to feel like the sun was setting and then unfolding into an airy, liminal spring night. everything around you is blooming and full of life but the more frequent cycles of rest are still occurring.
Where would you recommend listening to the mix?
at night during the warmer seasons. indoors with the windows open, on a walk, or while driving.