Some Holy Longing (Vinyl)

Akin to a coming-of-age story, Stephanie Cherote moved to New York City where a semi-converted laundromat became her home and an urgency to write instructed a momentous course for the singer/songwriter. She turned inward to mine the field of emotional matter and service it to the materialisation of songs.

Tucked away in East Village cafes, Cherote snatched the city’s quiet mornings to gather lyrics on paper before heading home to interweave her musings with fingerpicked guitar. Whilst working a day-job, she listened to 60s Disney soundtracks; compositions possessed by wild string arrangements and soaked in an otherworldly mystique. These recordings inspired a sound palate for Cherote's album that bridges folk traditions with elaborate orchestral arrangements.

Performing her songs at open mic nights in NYC ensued when; the timely attendance of composer and producer Brian Trahan sparked a collaboration that would provide the depth of field that Stephanie had imagined for the album. “Up until that point I had been stubbornly self-sufficient. I was satisfied writing the string parts with ordinary sample sounds and imagining their potential. I felt hesitant about letting anyone into the process but Brian’s sensitivity to where I was at, and his excitement to colour the bare bones of my songs was a necessary interruption”.

Brian took part in arranging strings for the album as well as the additional embellishments of piano, harp, theremin, and percussion.