The debut album from Hyd (co-creator of QT alongside SOPHIE and A. G. Cook) consists of dynamic, seductive and texturally-rich pop songs. CLEARING, releasing 11/11/22, captures the confluence of agency and surrender. Arranged cyclically over 11 tracks, Hyd carries us through elemental states of being: Fire (destruction), Ash (rebuilding), Garden (germination) and Air (emergence). In harnessing elements sonically, visually and conceptually, Hyd builds out a sensory world for their audience to hear, see, feel and breathe in. The album begins with chaos, worlds burning to ash and starting anew. New forms through singles “So Clear” and “Afar” mutate and emerge like seeds breaking through a surface of packed soil. Euphoric and kaleidoscopic songs like “Breaking Ground” and “Fallen Angel” speak of energy building from one medium of destruction to new mediums of life; lighter fluid to flame, damage to vulnerability, stillness to smoke, and an eventual return to air. Drawing in friends and artists such as SOPHIE and A. G. Cook, as well as Caroline Polachek, Nomak, Danny L Harle, Jonsi, Alex Somers and EASYFUN, CLEARING emerged between Los Angeles, London, New York and a series of volcanic islands. Informed by Hyd’s wider artistic practice, Hyd’s music is the result of interior research, community dialogues and material exploration creating an immense new ecosystem.