about the cd

In a Second Floor Window continues the methodology and aesthetic direction Christopher Bissonnette established on 2020’s Wayfinding. Where the earlier album examined reclusiveness, this work turns toward the longer-term effects of isolation. Much of the material was created in a new studio, shaped by the perspective of a second-floor window looking outward.

Bissonnette draws out subtle currents of melancholy through an increasingly reductive compositional approach. Despite a meticulous attention to detail on the final tracks, serendipitous moments were left intact, accidental fragments adding a sense of uneasiness to the mix. A sense of wistfulness prevails among the typically graceful sounding instruments – piano tones, tines, pads – cast in a light of introspection and restlessness.

As a complementary element, Bissonnette invited MA|DE—Mark Laliberte and Jade Wallace—to respond to selected tracks with poems reflecting their interpretations of the music. These texts appear in a booklet included with the CD, alongside photography that completes a three-part dialogue between sound, word, and image. Together, the work forms a chain of responses that began in a period of deep uncertainty and resolves in a cathartic act of sonic self-expression.