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Nov 17, 2020 By Joey Arnone Photography by Eleanor Petry Chastity Belt

Routine, the collaborative project between Annie Truscott (bassist for Chastity Belt) and Melina Duterte (the artist behind Jay Som), have shared a new song, “Calm and Collected,” and an accompanying music video. “Calm and Collected” is the latest single from their upcoming debut EP, And Other Things, which will be out this Friday via Friends Of/Dead Oceans. Watch the Eleanor Petry-directed video below.

The video was shot throughout Joshua Tree in California, which was also where the EP was written and recorded over the course of a month. The duo state in a press release: “We have both been wanting to collaborate with our good friend Eleanor for a while and the timing just lined up perfectly. Eleanor makes the most beautiful videos and we wanted something kind of dreamy and organic. When we scheduled the shoot in Joshua Tree, we didn’t realize that there would be a full moon. That definitely added a magical element to a project that already felt so special.”

Both Truscott and Duterte planned to go on tour before their plans were thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Routine was created as a result, and thus they began work on And Other Things. Truscott used her down time during lockdown as a time for reflection.“I spend a lot of my time thinking about the people who’ve impacted my life,” she says. “Routine gave me an opportunity to explore those relationships through music.”

Truscott lets her abilities as a singer/songwriter shine through on And Other Things, while Duterte takes “a backseat,” in her words, by accompanying, producing, and engineering.

“Melina is the most calming presence. She’s so good at sitting with silences in a conversation and just observing,” Truscott states of her musical, as well as personal, partner. “I think of And Other Things as a series of vignettes. We aren’t telling one story here, we’re telling a series of short stories that people can hopefully relate to.” Duterte describes the making of the EP as “seamless,” and Truscott says it is a “cathartic” experience to be able to release it during these uncertain times.

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