Mary Lattimore & Paul Sukeena, 'Hundred Dollar Hoagie'

When books are eventually written about music made during quarantine — and they will be — creativity and connection must center them. Somewhere between how i'm feeling now and FLOWERS for VASES / descansos there should be mention of West Kensington. Recorded early in the pandemic, Philly neighbors and friends Mary Lattimore and Paul Sukeena capture both isolation's bleary uncertainty and intimate camaraderie with ambient music that wonders and wanders.

With an absurd song title that feels like an inside joke, "Hundred Dollar Hoagie" creeps at the corners of consciousness. Lattimore, known for her work as a harpist solo and in studio sessions, here applies her astral explorations to synths. In close quarters, her bombastic synth melody — not unlike the late Vangelis — yearns to bound the spaceways of her confines. Sukeena, who's played on records by Steve Gunn and Rosali, echoes the stately chord progression with a weeping guitar — lost, but girded with a belt of feedback.

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