Eartheater details creative process for new album shaped by motherhood

Capturing the Transient Intensity of Early Motherhood

Musician Eartheater has detailed the creative process behind her latest album, explaining how the project was shaped by the intense physical and emotional experience of early motherhood.

Unlike previous projects where she might have lingered over production, the artist felt an urgent need to capture the transient nature of her experience.

Translating Mind-Bending Psychedelia into Sound

Every day that went by, I could feel the potency of that experience sort of dissipating,

To translate those sensations into sound, Eartheater collaborated with producer Dave Cerminara, who built the album’s distinctive percussion from scratch using modular synthesizers.

Building Raw Percussion from Scratch

Even if he tried to replicate one of those drums exactly, he couldn’t,

Eartheater said of the raw synthesis, noting that drum machines also enter prominently on the track Wasp In The Fig.

Nostalgic Touchstones and Industrial Electronica

The sonic palette draws heavily on specific nostalgic touchstones requested by the artist. For the track Crushing, Eartheater asked for an 1980s aesthetic that mirrored the music playing on the radio during her own infancy. Cerminara achieved this using modular equipment alongside a Syncussion drum machine, an instrument recognized from Skinny Puppy and other industrial electronica of that decade.

Eartheater emphasized that she needed to release the music, take it on tour, and discuss it while those intense early maternal feelings remained present in her daily life.