With the debut of their Twinsleep project, John Hayes and Maxy Dutcher write a new chapter in a journey of friendship & collaboration that began with a single track. Stumbling on Dutcher’s work for an editorial campaign, Hayes invited him to contribute a track to a compilation of reworks of songs from his album By the Woods (Sonder House, 2018). Quickly striking up a rapport, the pair followed up with Borealis (Moderna Records, 2020), a pulsating blend of synths and beats with hypnotic piano lines. The music of Twinsleep is of a different ilk, however, and proves worthy of getting its own moniker. A portmanteau referencing the towns at the midpoint of Hayes and Dutcher’s respective residences in Denver and Missoula, the project captures an essence of the vast, timbered landscapes of America’s Mountain West in its contemplative soundscapes and organic weave of electronics with acoustic textures.
John Hayes
The sonic tapestry melts away our inner ego providing us with our oldest, truest selves.
Some of the album is made up of stems that Hayes and Dutch exchanged early on, but the real spark for a new ambient project was a realization that they were on to something when Hayes began toying around with a restored 100-year-old harmonium in the early months of 2020 around the same time that Dutcher had been experimenting with the pump organ.
As a preview of the album, here is an exclusive premiere of “Old Snow”, a gentle evocation of the change from Winter into Spring that demonstrates the level of filigree knitted into each soundscape they are creating as Twinsleep. More than just a panoramic sweep of a scene, it feels lived in from the blanketed hush of the brisk mountain air to the gentle sounds of snowmelt loosening the icy grip of winter from creeks and rivulets. Grab your headphones, a flask of something warm, and enjoy…
Links: Streaming | Twinsleep (on Nettwerk) | John Hayes | Maxy Dutcher
“Old Snow” was mastered by Taylor Deupree. Stay tuned for more to come from Twinsleep via Nettwerk Music Group.
With this project, I’m proud of the fact that we embraced the feeling of being free—of making music with no master plan other than the enjoyment of making it. It’s a calming, cathartic experience to make this kind of music.
John Hayes
Stationary Travels 