Macie Stewart

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.

Macie Stewart’s ‘When the Distance is Blue’ feels even more cerebral than her debut, more improvisational, and more rooted in landscape. But for all the meditativeness and all the improvisation, there is a single-minded artistry at work behind these pieces. 

Macie Stewart announces her International Anthem debut, ‘When the Distance is Blue’, and shares her lead single “Spring Becomes You, Spring Becomes New”. Watch the accompanying video, filmed and directed by Mikel Patrick Avery.