In the height of harvest season, we turn to music to express the feeling of the season when words evade us: introducing the season’s installment of Attuned, our playlist series created in collaboration with an evolving roster of artists & musicians we admire.
This season, we consider the textures of harvest: the richness of fruition, the emotions of transitions, the ebb and shift of cycles—with a playlist curated by musical collaborators Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn. Earlier this month, they released “Quiet in a World Full Noise,” an album that boldly explores the sonic expression of storytelling, and a blueprint for stillness, simplicity, and the art of working across differences.
Stream the playlist here, and read more from Dawn & Spencer below.
In Conversation with Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn
Your album title, "Quiet in a World Full of Noise," inspires choosing calmness or quietude as an active choice. How do you consider this contrast, or what does it bring up?
Spencer: It holds multiple meanings for me. My first thought while making the album was to create music that lives in a space that is in contrast to the current consumption rate and quick audio scanning that we encounter on a day-to-day and minute-by-minute basis. I wanted to, and needed, to slow down when making this music and let it wash over me to gain perspective both on the music and my life. I think the act of doing that is very much an active choice these days.
Dawn: I agree. I needed to slow down, too. Self-reflection and realization were happening in real time for me, this feels like a soundscape where my thoughts could live unaltered.
Your collaboration bridges different musical backgrounds. How did you meet and decide to work together? What magic comes from your distinct blend of perspectives?
Spencer: Dawn and I met through friends in 2018. Dawn heard my first solo album and wanted to sing on one of the songs as it didn’t have vocals on it and quite literally overnight she sent me a new version of the song with her singing on it. I was overwhelmed by how beautiful, thoughtful, and easy the collaboration started and it remains that way to this day. We come from different backgrounds and by giving each other total freedom to be ourselves, it brings out a side of each other that wouldn’t normally have the space to exist. I am so grateful for that type of creation with Dawn.
Dawn: Spencer has been such a blessing in my musical life; I immediately knew I wanted to work with him. He’s my kindred spirit. I truly believe that. Our music has healed me in ways I will forever be grateful for.
Both of you are highly prolific and involved in multiple projects and collaborations. What special place or unique space does this project hold for you in your wider body of musical output?
Spencer: Dawn is able to reframe my compositions with her lyrics and vocals in a way that allows me to find new meaning in my ideas. It also allows me a new way to express feelings that I had but didn’t even realize were there. While making “Quiet in a World Full of Noise,” Dawn would send back versions of songs with lyrics added and often I’d also been imagining the same thing, almost in a dream. [It felt like] she was reading my emotions. A very emotional and cathartic process.
Dawn: I genuinely believe Spencer's compositions unlock depth and clarity in my lyrics…we both were going though our own emotional journeys and somehow understood what each other needed. This album healed me. This process restored me. The synergy we have has created some of my best musical work…and also some of my best self work.
Fall conjures themes of culmination—in what ways does this album reflect an evolution of your collaborative work together?
Spencer: We are even more personal, honest, and intimate on this album than past works. It’s a reflection of ourselves, a moment to grow, and to move forward both together and as individuals. Musically, it takes our previous album, “Pigments,” into consideration as a jumping off point, but we created something new both in sound and in form.
What were some of the ideas or themes you were considering in the tracks you selected for this playlist?
Spencer: I am interested in cycles in music, whether its form, melody, sound, dynamic, etc. The songs on this playlist have cycles that shift and grow while they play out while others their cycle might be from beginning to end and is best hard by listening on repeat.
“Part 1 - Opening” by Kenny Wheeler for instance is the “same” musical phrase twice but each time is unique and grows vastly. “Erato” by Andrew Hill seems to tumble and fold into itself constantly beginning, resolving, and moving forward. I find these themes to be endlessly interesting.
What are some other front-of-mind inspirations or ideas guiding you right now?
Spencer: Inspiration these days is coming mainly from friends and nature. I am newly living in Los Angeles and taking time to find quiet spaces in the surrounding nature of the city. That has been really grounding, more so than I had expected. Our musical community here in LA is also deeply inspiring and the people I get to spend my days with are showing me so many new ways for creative output.
Dawn: My inspirations have been coming from architecture and sound. I’m reading Architectural Acoustics by Michael Emann and The Sound of Architecture: Acoustic Atmospheres in Place.
I’m understanding how a structure can affect sound. I’ve been traveling to different countries and recognizing the difference architecture plays with sound design and it’s got me locked in.
• Stream the Autumn Harvest Playlist
• Stream “Quiet in a World Full of Noise”
• Listen to past playlists: Spring | Summer