Macie Stewart
Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart today release their debut trio album BODY SOUND via International Anthem. Assembled across sessions in Chicago and Knoxville and shaped using analog tape machines, the album is deep, melancholy, and triumphant — a stunning collection from three of the city’s most compelling experimentalists. New single burning | counting (sleeping) is streaming now.
Darkly cinematic and compellingly unhurried, “laundry | blood” finds Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart at their most brooding — a slow-burn highlight from BODY SOUND. A live performance video directed by Derrick Alexander accompanies the single. The album arrives March 20th via International Anthem and the trio are perfomring live across the East Coast US, London’s Cafe OTO, and Europe this spring.
Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart unveil performance film for “Stone | Piece,” directed by Derrick Alexander at The Land School. Blending strings with analog tape loops, the video captures a fresh, ambient take on the composition. The release coincides with their sold-out support dates for Andrew Bird’s Gezelligheid shows in Chicago, teasing a new album for 2026.
Experimental cellist and sound artist Lia Kohl has announced her new album, Various Small Whistles and a Song, which takes direct inspiration from Ed Ruscha’s 1964 artist book, Various Small Fires and Milk. Listen to a three-track preview, one of which features claire rousay. The suite guides listeners from the bustling streets of China to rousay’s LA home, and finally to Kohl’s own kitchen in Chicago.
Three pillars of Chicago’s experimental scene—Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart—have formed a new trio. Their debut single, “Stone Piece I,” out now on International Anthem, transforms improvised strings and vocals into a textural soundscape using analog tape loops. The release previews their live debut at Chicago’s Sound & Gravity Festival on September 11th and a full album planned for 2026.