For decades, Spencer Zahn and Will Graefe have traced similar journeys. They grew up in Massachusetts and relocated to New York City in the 2010s. Performing in kindred groups, such as Star Rover and Father Figures, the duo first crossed paths in the Brooklyn indie scene. They now reside in Los Angeles, contributing to California’s underground and relishing the fresh tempo of West Coast living.
From this rumination emerges Sudden Quarterly. Zahn’s new label, dedicated to supporting the material of friends and exploring a fresh mode of productivity. It focuses on genre-defying instrumental music and improvisation. “Each year will have a theme and an album comes out every quarter based on that theme,” Zahn elaborates. “2026 will be all duet pairings.”
This prompt yielded Zahn and Graefe’s collaborative debut, I Envy Light.
Mood Board is our column where artists share a few of the things that inspired their new record. This time, Will Graefe and Spencer Zahn share how California, Emily Dickinson, and more shaped their new record I Envy Light — out today on Sudden Quarterly.
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
1. California
When we were making this album, Will and I had both recently moved to Los Angeles. The way that the days flow here, the sun beams into the studio, and the feeling in general is so different to the East Coast that this music took on a feeling that could only be recorded in California. I go running in the mountains most days and the melodies from our sessions would play in my head while I was looking out onto the city from afar. The music and those moments are deeply connected.
2. Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie
Both of us love the guitar playing, compositions, and sound of the albums Solstice, led by Ralph Towner, and Characters, the solo album by John Abercrombie. These two albums are constantly on rotation in our houses. Our album is a 12-string acoustic guitar and fretless bass record, and Towner and Abercrombie led the way for us with their recordings.
3. Emily Dickinson
My (Will) friend Maya gave me a pocket-size copy of Emily Dickinson’s poetry in 2019 and I’ve carried it in my guitar case on tour ever since. Each night I place it on top of my amp right next to my picks and capos — a bit of ritual and homage. I find her prose contradictory in the best way: efficient yet colorful, earthy yet cosmic, existential yet grounded in the quotidian. And best of all, concise. When we were recording, I opened to a random page and found poem 498. We used it as a prompt for the music that became I Envy Light.
4. Limitations of instrumentation
No electric guitar or keyboards were authorized for this recording process.
