Macie Stewart
When the Distance is Blue

** OUT NOW **
ON ALL MUSIC PLATFORMS

"The track ‘Spring Becomes New, Spring Becomes You,’ unfolds as a minimalistic waltz for prepared piano and string trio. Clanking piano motifs dissolve into pizzicato strings, while high violin harmonics hover far above; it’s at once lulling and eerie."
-New York Times

“Adventurous sounds rich in texture and harmonic possibility, all ripe for improvisation.”
-All Music

“One of Chicago’s most multi-faceted artists…When The Distance Is Blue is an eight-track song cycle that mines her versatility as a composer and bandleader.
-No Expectations

“A deeply immersive sonic journey…the album captures the quiet magic of transition, of movement, of the moments spent neither here nor there."
-The Luna Collective

“She proves – like Wendy Eisenberg or Julia Holter – that you can have the best of both worlds: music that stirs the heart and exercises the brain.”
-KLOF

"Stewart's unexpected musical choices come from following astute instincts rather than calculated decisions"
-The Wire Magazine

“As perfect a vision as you can get, everything about When the Distance is Blue is just so right; every feeling, note, sensibility carefully pitched in a dreamy and ached, subtle and often mysteriously intriguing way.”
-Monolith Cocktail

“As the tracks tumble together, they dislodge the listener in time…Stewart’s piano notes echo like bells in a Tibetan temple. The album is released at the spring solstice, as eggs are balanced on their heads and migration shifts north.”
-A Closer Listen

Listen.

When the Distance is Blue
Live Dates

Macie Stewart will be on tour in support of the album this spring, with the When the Distance is Blue live ensemble featuring the quartet heard on the record (Whitney Johnson on viola and voice, Lia Kohl on cello and voice, Zach Moore on double bass and voice, and Stewart on piano, violin, and voice). See all dates and find tickets below.

* with Whitney Johnson/Matchess
% with Lia Kohl/Whitney Johnson duo

Follow Macie Stewart
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( photo by Shannon Marks )

Long-heralded in musician circles for her versatility, Macie Stewart stands as a distinguished, go-to collaborator across genre and style, with a collaborative CV that reads like a dream year-end list— performing strings for Makaya McCraven, Damon Locks, or Japanese Breakfast; singing harmonies with Tweedy; arranging for Alabaster DePlume, Resavoir, Mannequin Pussy, or SZA; co-leading the jagged art-rock experimentation of Finom, her duo with songwriter Sima Cunningham. Her varied-yet-distinct sound has led to a name recognition that goes beyond the devoted liner note enthusiast, with Pitchfork saying “Macie Stewart has had a hand in making some of the best tracks of the past five years transcendent.”

Stewart describes When the Distance is Blue as “a love letter to the moments we spend in-between.” The album draws its title from Rebecca Solnit’s book of essays, A Field Guide to Getting Lost. Stewart, too, contends with the longing for all that lies out of reach, and gives shape to that longing throughout this contemplative collection with a musical lexicon which lands somewhere between Alvin Curran’s Songs and Views from the Magnetic Garden and Claire Rousay’s A Softer Focus. Here Stewart creates a striking and cinematic work through collages of prepared piano, field recordings from her various travels, and string quartet compositions featuring herself on violin, Whitney Johnson (aka Matchesse) on viola, Lia Kohl on cello, and Zach Moore on double bass.

Preview & purchase
When the Distance is Blue

Deluxe Vinyl Package

When the Distance is Blue comes on a 140g color LP in heavyweight reverse-board jacket, with photo-strip insert sheet, IARC 2025 obi strip & poly-lined inner sleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany, with lacquers cut by Daniel K @ SST.

Available on limited edition *Glacial Blue* color vinyl for $29 USD.
Also available on classic black vinyl for $24 USD.
And on compact disc for $15 USD.

Order a copy today!