liz harris has been recording as grouper for nearly a decade now, offering up collections of hushed, ambient-laced songs on an almost-yearly basis. her new album, ruins, is due out october 31st via kranky records, and harris recently spoke to vogue about its first single. “call across rooms” is about as sparse as a song can get, confining harris to just her voice and a piano. but it’s a testament to her prowess as a songwriter that harris can make these perceived limitations work to her advantage; a single melody is shared between the two instruments and the percussive nature of the piano constantly threatens to overpower her lyrics, forcing a close and intimate listen to parcel out the song’s poetic content. harris also describes “call across rooms” as having a dual meaning, a second layer of complexity underlined by the types of chord qualities and resolutions not typically found in pop music. but then again, adhering to convention has never been the tendency of grouper. check out “call across rooms” below.
listen to a new song from grouper
Dimestore Saints 