Category Archives: Music

The Story Behind “Respire,” the Upcoming Single

Matthew S. Rosin, Respire
Matthew S. Rosin, “Respire,” to be released by Meristem Music on March 12, 2021.

I recorded “Respire” in 2014 as a way to rediscover my own breath.

I sang in falsetto with a resonant space in my mouth but lips closed and vibrating slightly. I was inspired by how Arve Henriksen makes his trumpet sound like a cooing voice. I tried to do the opposite: make my voice sound like a gospel-inflected cousin of a trumpet, theremin, or flute. Doing so got me out of my own head and into my body.

Then I brought in the accordion, which also breathes: vibrating chords and the simple pull and push of air.

I put the resulting piece away for another time—until the COVID-19 pandemic, when I returned to “Respire” and finished the mix.

So many have suffered, struggled to breathe, and lost their breath entirely to COVID-19. “Respire” reminds me to be grateful for my breath and all that might flow from it.

May you, the listener, breathe easy and be well.

“Respire” will be released digitally by Meristem Music on March 12, 2021 via Bandcamp and all streaming platforms.

Coming soon: “Respire” single

Matthew S. Rosin, “Respire” single (2021)

I’m releasing a new single, “Respire,” on March 12, 2021! It will be available for download on Bandcamp and for streaming on all the usual platforms.

“Respire” is a meditation for wordless voice and accordion, and it’s radically different from my previous release, the Singing Is Contagious EP.

I’ll share the story behind the single during the coming weeks.

Poem: “Sparrow In Memory” (2020)

Your sparrow in memory dives to snap up a gleaming fly. Can you not face it? Your sparrow is dead: undone in dirt by crawly things, sipped up by a twisted root. You do not smell the rot in your heart: you never had shovels for hands.

Published as lyrics for Matthew S. Rosin’s Singing Is Contagious EP, 2020.

Poem: “Word Cage” (2020)

You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
Now you’re trapped in your word cage.

Are you listening for the sounds that don’t fit your scheme?
Are you listening for the pleas that undercut your dream?
You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
Now you’re locked away in your word cage.

When a syllable varies, do you cut it away?
Do you take hold of the tongue and beat it into place?
You thought you knew it all, so you clung to the name.
Now your children are dying in your word cage.

Published as lyrics for Matthew S. Rosin’s Singing Is Contagious EP, 2020.