For Translucence, out March 28th, is the debut album from Whitney Johnson & Lia Kohl. Their dialogue, found initially in free improvisation on viola and cello, has evolved over time into a neophonic orchestral expression: a living, breathing meditation in which layers of acoustic strings, synthesisers, field recordings, radio and sine waves illuminate and change each other as they twine and grow. Their first single, an excerpt of “73|74”, is out today.

This edit of “73|74” is a heady moment in the composition, where sounds appear to be going backward and forward at once — much like the overlapping imagery of Whitney and Lia's music video, which drifts between portals of snow and doubled images of the duo. Their viola and cello meet in a harmonically felicitous zone, droning in open tones, before improvising within the vibrations of their binaural beats. Their goal is “for translucence”: for each successive part to add clarity to its others.

Lia and Whitney began playing together in 2018, exploring the space between Lia’s cello and Whitney’s viola with their shared tuning one octave apart. Lia’s work explores the possibilities and dualities of mundane and profound sounds; Whitney, under her own name and as Matchess, presents the listener with the effects of sound on bodies and mind. There was an ease in weaving their instruments and ideas together, but several years passed before they considered recording as one — both share identities as string players, composers and sound artists based in Chicago’s rich experimental scene. Within the double layers of their four strings and added instruments — Whitney’s ARP Odyssey synthesiser, Lia’s Teenage Engineering OP-1 synthesizer and AM/FM radio — a symmetry emerges that is the key to For Translucence. The songs are two improvisations superimposed over each other, the titles derived from the two fundamental frequencies in which they improvise. Like all of time put together, their past and future selves unfold with a flowing energy of fresh discovery breathing through each track.

For Translucence arrives on the heels of three entrancing works released in 2024 by Whitney Johnson (Hav), her alter ego Matchess (Stena), and Lia Kohl (Normal Sounds, Moon Glyph). Witness the unique organic nature of For Translucence, as it blooms, on March 28th. Whitney and Lia will perform tonight (February 5) as a duo at SPACE in Evanston, Illinois.

Whitney Johnson & Lia Kohl 2025 Performances

Feb. 5 - Evanston, IL @ SPACE (w/ Same Waves)