Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey have been creative and life partners for over fourteen years, and have released a lot of music together, including a dozen albums on Intakt alone. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, they livestreamed duo performances from their Brooklyn apartment, and the 13 pieces on this 42-minute album have the same intimacy. Although the tracks were recorded in a studio (Brooklyn Recording), the results often seem like they're trying to make sure they don't tick off neighbors: hence headphones are very much recommended for optimal listening.

The album contains seven pieces, ranging from three and a half to seven and a half minutes in length. The first, "Flock of Conclusions", begins with the saxophonist in a questing, almost meditative mode, journeying up and down the tenor's range as though singing a lullaby. Eventually, she rises to a level of middling intensity, though it takes a while. Conversely, the album closer, “Said, Been Said", begins with long drones and soft scrapes as well as slashes from Rainey, as if bringing the music back down to earth and tucking it away. And much of the time in between, Laubrock operates in a lyrical, even romantic mode, while Rainey dances delicately on cymbals, adding occasional gentle tom strikes for emphasis. One of the few tracks on which he lets a thumping beat break loose is "Scrunch Repercussions".

The main pieces are broken up by six interludes: "Brink" (I through VI), each hovering around one minute. In those segments, Laubrock cuts loose in a variety of unsettling ways. Sometimes she plays repetitive squiggling figures like an Al Evan Parker; sometimes she sounds like a furiously crying baby fighting an equally furious duck; at other times she's just gently whistling through a tube. Behind her, Rainey frequently scrapes his cymbals and the rim of his snare. These tracks are exactly as long as they need to be, providing a moment's respite before each longer work, and also reminding the listener of the creative and entertainment potential of just freely being a weirdo for a brief minute.

Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey have been creative and life partners for over fourteen years, and have released a lot of music together, including a dozen albums on Intakt alone. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, they livestreamed duo performances from their Brooklyn apartment, and the 13 pieces on this 42-minute album have the same intimacy. Although the tracks were recorded in a studio (Brooklyn Recording), the results often seem like they're trying to make sure they don't tick off neighbors: hence headphones are very much recommended for optimal listening.

The album contains seven pieces, ranging from three and a half to seven and a half minutes in length. The first, "Flock of Conclusions", begins with the saxophonist in a questing, almost meditative mode, journeying up and down the tenor's range as though singing a lullaby. Eventually, she rises to a level of middling intensity, though it takes a while. Conversely, the album closer, “Said, Been Said", begins with long drones and soft scrapes as well as slashes from Rainey, as if bringing the music back down to earth and tucking it away. And much of the time in between, Laubrock operates in a lyrical, even romantic mode, while Rainey dances delicately on cymbals, adding occasional gentle tom strikes for emphasis. One of the few tracks on which he lets a thumping beat break loose is "Scrunch Repercussions".

The main pieces are broken up by six interludes: "Brink" (I through VI), each hovering around one minute. In those segments, Laubrock cuts loose in a variety of unsettling ways. Sometimes she plays repetitive squiggling figures like an Al Evan Parker; sometimes she sounds like a furiously crying baby fighting an equally furious duck; at other times she's just gently whistling through a tube. Behind her, Rainey frequently scrapes his cymbals and the rim of his snare. These tracks are exactly as long as they need to be, providing a moment's respite before each longer work, and also reminding the listener of the creative and entertainment potential of just freely being a weirdo for a brief minute.