This song, the second on Rousay’s 2021 album, a softer focus, is tough to detach from. “discrete (the market)” ends with the listener falling down a thin, high-pitched tunnel to a an easy but ominous vibration, which is the doorway to the next track, “peak chrome.” It begins a million miles away, with rapid clicks from a typewriter and the sounds of someone maybe fumbling in a drawer. There’s washing machine tumbles and what sounds like a marble dropping threw a maze of wooden pins, both washed over by sweeping snyth. The whole domestic peacefullness is broken by a rumbling storm, chimes are quickly flusttered into a chaotic rattle – but this isn’t the darkest the song gets. Thick hums and ocean tides bring a balance back to the song’s landscape and it all begins to rock, like chair – and, for a second, the listener is redelivered to that peaceful arena the song promoted earlier. Earily, the floor drops and a haunting “zzzzz” is added, a buzz – and then we’re falling down that well.

“discrete (the market)” by claire rousay – softer focus, 2021 (American Dream)