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sentiment

by claire rousay

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1.
4pm 02:48
it’s 4pm on a monday and i cannot stop sobbing.  i haven’t been able to eat or sleep or leave the bed for days. crying every single day for the past 20 days. now that i type it out, that seems like an obvious red flag… something is wrong.  on paper, my life is nice.  actually, my life is becoming the very life i have dreamed about since i was a little kid.  i so badly wish i could engage, appreciate, and truly LIVE this life that i’ve been fortunate enough to experience. unfortunately, there is a seemingly infinite void inside of me. and a darkness that won’t lift.  i have never felt this alone and discarded in my life.  this includes times when i lost friends, family, and even what i thought was my god.  perhaps those losses just compounded, including my current situational stressors (?).  or maybe this is unrelated. or maybe i am making it all up.  i am writing this on my iPhone,  and can already tell that this text will either end up sounding like a suicide note or like, some pathetic attempt at “being real”.  it is neither though. the closest thing i can think of to compare this text to is a letter to the universe,  begging for the aching to let up, the crying to slow, and my ability to function to return. … sometimes i am just grateful that i can still cry - because being numb is an even worse reality, and very few people seem to return from that.
2.
head 04:43
you wanna be hard and feel in control  but being commanding is hard when you don’t  know what you  are lookin for what you want is slipping away  Spending half of my whole life giving you head  just in case you need to forgive me  one day for something that i did  doubt flows in I am not drowning yet but the rain is coming in under the door you know i dont give a  shit Mental blasts of the best parts Counting down and then it starts Drowning now, went too far Drowning now, i drank too hard Now im (not okay)
3.
Do you ever think about what im doin When he's doing you  cause i do Maybe just hanging around Maybe just blacking out til i feel okay First its cheers at the bar  In the bathroom there it starts Tongue-filled mouths in the dark Drunk with him in your apartment  Mental blasts of the best parts Back when the apartment was yours and mine Trying not to visualize your skin by candlelight While he gets what he needs First its cheers at the bar  In the bathroom there it starts Voices crack in the dark  Is it self destruction or pure of heart This is not your problem This is not your fault This is just me trying to stay involved
4.
(Imma fuck things up anyway) Let me make a home with somebody It doesn't matter if you’re not alone I’ve still got to keep this to myself Today (but) I don't know  Imma fuck things up anyway It’s 100 degrees and I’m sweatin’ my ass off cuz you’re giving me those eyes And they’re asking for it Imma fuck things up anyway
5.
iii 04:36
6.
ya it’s my fault said and did different and for the most part i hate me too i couldn’t keep up kept spinning my truth but you were so honest still loved me too trying to convince everyone that im ok when i am not fucking ok lovers spit plays in the  background making me wish i had  someone around it’s pissing you off but i’m drunk as ever never remember  the words i say flex at the party and never say sorry egos still hurt it was the jameson i feel your distance on the patio  this is the most i’ve ever felt alone lovers spit plays in the background making me wish i had  someone around
7.
8.
I’m completely drenched like that time In the river you looked and swore “This never happens” I bet it happens second tier is better than third Out of time, I still beg Please, five more minutes Please, five more minutes Please, five more minutes Please, five more minutes I don't want to be happy i wanna be hungry  Mouth open  unprepared Does anyone care that i'm out of the country sprinting I turn away from Glory, i've seen a lot of things Slippery ecstasy unity broken key cold friend
9.
10.
Its ok if its not true, i believe it Just say it like you mean it Like anything, i’ll believe it And say “i love you too” im easy to convince Easy to fool me It doesn't have to be true  Just say it like you mean it Like anything, i’ll believe it And say “i love you too”

about

claire rousay is a singular artist, known for challenging conventions in experimental and ambient music forms. rousay masterfully incorporates textural found sounds, sumptuous drones and candid field recordings into music that celebrates the beauty in life’s banalities. Her music is curatorial and granular in detail, deftly shaped into emotionally affecting pieces. sentiment is a meditation of the poignant emotional terrains of loneliness, nostalgia, sentimentality, guilt, and sex. The album’s narrative arc is guided by delicate musical gestures and artistic vulnerability, audaciously synthesizing disparate and unexpected influences. rousay crafted the songs in various homes, bedrooms, hotels, and other private places, the feeling of time and energy spent alone radiating from each passage. The album is a collection of heart-rending, incisive pop songs that explore universal feelings with subtlety and remarkable vision.

rousay’s vocals and guitar take center stage on sentiment. Her intimate, diaristic lyrics contrast with her mechanical-inflected vocal effects, emphasizing a powerful desire for connection, a deep yearning and a lingering sense of separation. The spare guitar playing and laconic tempo both drive the songs and exude a sense of resignation. Her delicate mastery of nuance draws on her explorative musical past that she, with sincerity and admiration, seamlessly interweaves into her adventurous textures and distinctive compositions. “I want to belong to the worlds and communities I look up to. Same as someone using a Fender guitar or dressing like Kurt Cobain. Emulate your heroes,” says rousay.

From a sprawling math-rock duo, to an array of emo-inflected rock outfits to a hired hand in evangelical worship bands, rousay worked as a percussionist for over a decade before shifting her focus to the solo collage work she’s known for. sentiment folds those experiences into her compositions. rousay explains, “As the drummer in an evangelical rock band, it’s your job, with the singers, to manipulate the crowd. You start building on the drums and you know it’s one bigger chorus and then we’re out and you can see the tears, people just start crying. I still feel a version of that when playing my own shows now.”

The album balances the poetic soul of her influences with a documentarian heart, rousay capturing moments of her life while living alone in houses across the country, learning to play guitar, and reconnecting with pop music. “I have been on a quest to communicate my feelings and ideas as clearly as possible lately. Pop seemed like the way to do that this time,” says rousay. The confessional nature of sampled fragments of conversation give her pieces a specificity and sense of intimacy that is both immediate and curious. rousay’s innate ability to conjure pure feeling from sound derives from her delightful embrace of pop forms, the vulnerability found in field recordings, minimalistic arrangements and innovative sound choices. The resulting songs of sentiment are as anthemic as they are breathtakingly personal. sentiment is blissfully, achingly melancholic, and an undeniably sensual listening experience.

credits

released April 19, 2024

Recorded by claire rousay
Mixed by Bennett Littlejohn and claire rousay
Mastered by Andrew Weathers
Vinyl cut by Amy Dragon at Telegraph Audio LLC
Photography by Zoe Donahoe and Adam Sputh
Layout by Daniel Castrejón

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All music was performed and recorded by claire rousay except:

4pm - Julia Brüssel (violin), Theodore Cale Schafer (voice)
head - Julia Brüssel (violin)
it could be anything - Mari Maurice (violin), Bennett Littlejohn (bass guitar)
askin for it - Mari Maurice (electronics, violin)
iii - Julia Brüssel (violin), Emily Wittbrodt (cello)
sycamore skylight - Mari Maurice (electronics, violin)
lover's spit plays in the background - Mari Maurice (violin)
please 5 more minutes (featuring Lala Lala) - Lillie West (guitar, synthesizer, voice)
ily2 (featuring Hand Habits) - Meg Duffy (guitar)

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Thank you to Adam Sputh, Andrew Weathers, Bennett Littlejohn, Bettina Richards, Dawood Nadurath, Daniel Castrejón, Em Scott, Emily Wittbrodt, Jan Lankisch, John Stevens, Julia Brüssel, Lillie West, Mari Maurice, Meg Duffy, Michaël Bardier, Mike Boyd, Theodore Cale Schafer, Zoe Donahoe

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claire rousay Los Angeles, California

"singular artist, known for challenging conventions in experimental and ambient music forms"

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