Award-winning ambient/musique concrète composer known for her ‘highly emotive, whisper-quiet musical works’.

The Canadian-American claire rousay (USA/CA) – lowercase, please – has a remarkably well-known fan base. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, for instance – check out their single How Sweet I Roamed – who gave her a load of instruments after hearing that her apartment had been ransacked while she was on tour.  

Or The Bad Seeds icon Warren Ellis, who fell in love with the soundtrack she created for Viktor Kubal’s The Bloody Lady: ‘I found myself living inside this wonderful record one day. Variously described by others as dreamy, menacing and haunting.’  

She recently made the cover of our favourite monthly magazine, The Wire, which described her music as ‘intimate, emotionally raw and unflinching’. The New York Times included her album Sentiment in its Best Albums of 2024 list, and De Standaard described it as: ‘One of the most devastating albums of the year. Heartbreakingly beautiful.’  

Her minimalist work – situated between ambient, field recordings, and electronica – is often compared to minimalist pioneers like Steve Reich or William Basinski. Her latest album, a little death (2025), was showered with praise. Pitchfork: ‘rousay’s most polished and straightforward work, one that seeks to take her from collagist to capital-C Composer.’  

rousay will also provide the live soundtrack for Victor Kubal’s animated film The Bloody Lady during BRDCST at arthouse cinema Palace.