claire rousay
17 roles (all mapped out)
—
Metadata
Printed artwork on 300 gsm white J-card with inlay housed in solid white case.
300 copies clear dark blue pro-dubbed tape with on-body printing.
17 roles (all mapped out) (24:24)
Credits
music by claire rousay
with alex cunningham (violin) & marilu donovan (harp)
mastered by stephan mathieu
design by bartolomé sanson
text by joshua minsoo kim
product pics by boomkat
Recorded in 2021
SP137 shelter press
We begin at a railroad crossing. Its resounding, clanging bell—like a metronome keeping everything in time—grants an air of stability only for it to be punctured by a train’s metallic whirrs. As its lumbering presence fades into the ether, claire rousay arrives, and her voice is quiet and sincere enough to invite those listening to lend an ear. In the span of a few minutes she considers: a friend’s mother, the afterlife, and her own fragility; the loneliness of private moments; the feelings of those from across the digital realm. She, much like the trains and cars that pass by, captures life as both itinerant and alone, as one defined by a composite of identities formed in relation to others.
Following the completion of her upcoming Shelter Press LP ‘everything perfect is already here’ (SP134 / 2022), rousay created ‘17 roles (All Mapped Out)’ as a way to process the album. Across 24 minutes, we hear sparse field recordings and sustained strings, all of it moving at a steady, thoughtful pace. Its rhythms are thalassic, its drones diaphanous—more than music for ruminating, it’s the soundtrack to hearing a friend share stories, the kind that are so deep and so intimate that looking each other in the eye would prove too vulnerable. When ‘17 roles’ concludes with guitar plucks and harp, it feels like finding solace and serenity amongst friends, like finding joy in the people who define you.
claire rousay
17 roles (all mapped out)
—
Metadata
Printed artwork on 300 gsm white J-card with inlay housed in solid white case.
300 copies clear dark blue pro-dubbed tape with on-body printing.
17 roles (all mapped out) (24:24)
Credits
music by claire rousay
with alex cunningham (violin) & marilu donovan (harp)
mastered by stephan mathieu
design by bartolomé sanson
text by joshua minsoo kim
product pics by boomkat
Recorded in 2021
SP137 shelter press
We begin at a railroad crossing. Its resounding, clanging bell—like a metronome keeping everything in time—grants an air of stability only for it to be punctured by a train’s metallic whirrs. As its lumbering presence fades into the ether, claire rousay arrives, and her voice is quiet and sincere enough to invite those listening to lend an ear. In the span of a few minutes she considers: a friend’s mother, the afterlife, and her own fragility; the loneliness of private moments; the feelings of those from across the digital realm. She, much like the trains and cars that pass by, captures life as both itinerant and alone, as one defined by a composite of identities formed in relation to others.
Following the completion of her upcoming Shelter Press LP ‘everything perfect is already here’ (SP134 / 2022), rousay created ‘17 roles (All Mapped Out)’ as a way to process the album. Across 24 minutes, we hear sparse field recordings and sustained strings, all of it moving at a steady, thoughtful pace. Its rhythms are thalassic, its drones diaphanous—more than music for ruminating, it’s the soundtrack to hearing a friend share stories, the kind that are so deep and so intimate that looking each other in the eye would prove too vulnerable. When ‘17 roles’ concludes with guitar plucks and harp, it feels like finding solace and serenity amongst friends, like finding joy in the people who define you.
