Tête-à-Tête (Ruth Anderson and Annea Lockwood album)

Tête-à-Tête is a studio album by American composers Ruth Anderson and Annea Lockwood. It was released by Ergot Records on April 28, 2023. The album consists of two compositions by Anderson, both made in the 20th century, and one by Lockwood, written in the 21st century. "Resolutions" was the last electronic composition by Anderson, created in 1984; and "Conversations" was originally made as a gift to Lockwood. "For Ruth", the final track, was composed in 2021 by Lockwood and consists of field recordings at lakes in Hancock and Montana, and represents a chronological timeline of their relationship.

Anderson and Lockwood became a couple shortly upon meeting in 1973 after the former took a sabbatical from her job and needed a replacement. The two would be together for a total of 50 years, wedding in 2005 in Canada following its legalization of same-sex marriage. Anderson died of lung cancer in November 2019, prompting Lockwood to compose "For Ruth" as a reply to "Conversations". Both works debuted at the 2021 Counterflows Festival in Glasgow. Tête-à-Tête received positive reviews from critics upon its release, with many highlighting its intimate nature and "Conversations" as the album's centerpiece. Several publications featured Tête-à-Tête on their year-end lists.

In 1973, Ruth Anderson, director of the Electronic Music Studio at Hunter College in New York City, began a year-long sabbatical to Hancock, New Hampshire. Needing someone to fill her position, Anderson's friend, composer Pauline Oliveros, recommended New Zealand-born Annea Lockwood, who was based in London. Lockwood accepted the offer and moved to the United States.^[1] She and Anderson would meet, and soon after became romantic partners.^[2] They married in 2005 in Canada, following the country's legalization of same-sex marriage.^[3]

On November 29, 2019, after a 50-year relationship, Anderson died of lung cancer at Calvary Hospital in The Bronx, aged 91.^[4][5][3] A few months after, in March 2020, Anderson's debut full-length album, Here, was released through Arc Light Editions.^[6][7] In June 2020, seven months after Anderson's death,^[8] Lockwood began creating the composition "For Ruth" by making field recordings in Hancock and Montana.^[9][10] While clearing her shelves, Lockwood discovered "Conversations", a cassette Anderson had made her as a gift. Lockwood then asked mastering engineer and composer Maggie Payne to create a digital transfer of the tape. According to Lockwood, she and Anderson promised each other that they would listen to the tape in their later years, but never did.^[6] Both "Conversations" and "For Ruth" debuted at the 2021 Counterflows Festival in Glasgow, where it served as Lockwood's centerpiece for her performance.^[9]

Tête-à-Tête is an avant-garde album consisting of unreleased archival work by Anderson, paired alongside newly recorded material from Lockwood.^[1] The album as a whole represents the relationship between Anderson and Lockwood and is dedicated to Anderson; Pat Padua of Spectrum Culture described it as "an intimate document" of the two.^[11][12]

Tête-à-Tête's opening track is the 17-minute drone piece^[12] "Resolutions", composed by Anderson. It primarily consists of sine tones that gradually decrease in pitch.^[2][13] Created in 1984, "Resoluitions" was the last electronic composition Anderson had completed.^[11][2] The album's second track is the 18-minute "Conversations", a musique concrète composition also by Anderson.^[1] While on her sabbatical, Anderson regularly spoke with Lockwood through phone calls. Over a nine month period, Anderson secretly recorded their calls and, in 1974, compiled them into a sound collage as a gift for Lockwood.^[2] "Conversations" is interspersed with slow piano interpolations of popular songs, including "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "Oh, You Beautiful Doll".^[11][2][13] The phone calls used in the track primarily consists of various non-lexical vocables.^[6]

"For Ruth", composed in 2021 by Lockwood, is the closing track on Tête-à-Tête and acts as her homage to Anderson.^[2][11][10] It consists of various field recordings made at Willard Pond and Sargent Lake near Hancock, and Flathead Lake in Montana. "For Ruth" represents a chronological timeline of Anderson's relationship with Lockwood and its eternal nature – in Montana, the two had built a home and acts as Anderson's resting place.^[10][2] Sounds used in "For Ruth" include water, birds, and church bells,^[1] and the track reuses phone calls from the preceding "Conversations".^[2] Towards the end of "For Ruth", Lockwood bids farewell to Anderson through one of their phone conversations – she tells Anderson, "Good night. I love you," to which Anderson replies "Bye-bye, darling."^[10] Lockwood considered "Conversations" and "For Ruth" to be closing pieces to her marriage with Anderson.^[6]

Tête-à-Tête was released by Ergot Records on April 28, 2023.^[14] The album received acclaim from critics. "Conversations" was highlighted by several as the album's standout. Robert Ham of Paste praised it for its "blushingly intimate" tune, especially towards the end.^[12] Both Joshua Minsoo Kim, writing for Pitchfork, and Marc Masters of Bandcamp Daily described it as "joyous" and named it the album's centerpiece.^[2][5] Eric Torres from Pitchfork felt that the album captured "romantic, homespun bliss at its purest."^[15]

Maria Barrios of Bandcamp Daily praised the album as "the product of their monumental work as composers and educators." She felt that it "proudly" displayed their relationship and "their commitment to" music.^[1] Kim noted the album's use of active listening to demonstrate how it can deepen connections. He labeled the album's opener "Resolutions" as "hypnotic".^[2] Geeta Dayal of 4Columns described "Conversations" and "For Ruth" as some of the "strangest and most profound pieces of music" she had listened to, but praised the latter for its "spectacular" immersion.^[10] Many critics praised the album's tenderness and intimate nature. Padua, writing for Spectrum Culture, applauded Tête-à-Tête for being so intimate to the point that "a listener might feel like they're intruding on something," calling it "part of the fascination."^[11] Barrios called "For Ruth" by Lockwood "intimate and moving" and described her field recordings as virtuous.^[1] Neil Cooper of Scottish Art News felt it was "deeply personal", saying it was "a moving call and response" and described it as "emotional and joyous."^[9] Jennifer Lucy Allan of The Quietus described the album as "gut-wrenchingly personal," and called it "the most moving tribute to a life-changing relationship" she had come across.^[16]

Tête-à-Tête was placed on several year-end lists for both experimental and all genres. The Wire and The Quietus both ranked Tête-à-Tête as the 12th and 55th best album of 2023, respectively.^[17][18] Stereogum placed the album 8th on their list of best experimental albums of 2023, and Tête-à-Tête appeared on experimental music lists for Bandcamp Daily and Pitchfork.^[19][5][15] Lockwood played the album at the 2024 Rewire Festival in The Hague, Netherlands; in a column for The Line of Best Fit, Alan Pedder described the performance as being tenderhearted.^[20]

Credits adapted from Bandcamp page.^[14]

• Giuseppe Ielasi – mastering
• Maggi Payne – tape transferring
• Kassian Troyer – lacquer cutting
• Bryce Wilner – design
• Annea Lockwood – liner notes