Biography
Since 2009 the Chicago-based pair Cleared has specialized in merging experimental drones with avant-garde rhythmic pulses. Their partnership originated as an effort to construct extended works built on repetition and unhurried development. The self-titled debut appeared in 2011, after which the duo issued further recordings such as Breaking Day in 2012, The Key in 2020, and Of Endless Light in 2022.
Steven Hess and Michael Vallera formed the project that year. Hess had already supplied percussion and drums to ensembles including Locrian and Haptic, while Vallera had issued material under his own name. The two began by investigating repetition and duration in order to shape long-form pieces that unfolded gradually.
Their first album, released on Immune—the label that had also presented work by Expo '70 and Slowdive’s Simon Scott—came out in 2011. Returning to the imprint the following year, Breaking Day examined percussive rhythms, guitar drones, and field recordings. As Hess turned to other commitments and Vallera concentrated on solo activity, including the debut COiN release for Opal Tapes, the duo’s schedule grew sporadic. Their third album, Drown, surfaced in 2014; their fourth, Serpens, followed in 2017.
In 2019 Hess and Vallera resumed work at Electrical Audio in Chicago with engineer Greg Norman. Working only from notes and drawings, they produced their fifth album entirely through studio improvisation, seeking to restore the project’s foundational approach. Touch issued the resulting record, The Key, in 2020; it was accompanied by reworkings from Fennesz, Philip Jeck, Bethan Kellough, and Olivia Block.
For their sixth release, Of Endless Light, the pair again explored temporal structure. By adopting the maximum playing time of a compact disc as a framework, they achieved a more refined handling of experimental drones and rhythmic passages, yielding the longest album Cleared has produced.
Steven Hess and Michael Vallera formed the project that year. Hess had already supplied percussion and drums to ensembles including Locrian and Haptic, while Vallera had issued material under his own name. The two began by investigating repetition and duration in order to shape long-form pieces that unfolded gradually.
Their first album, released on Immune—the label that had also presented work by Expo '70 and Slowdive’s Simon Scott—came out in 2011. Returning to the imprint the following year, Breaking Day examined percussive rhythms, guitar drones, and field recordings. As Hess turned to other commitments and Vallera concentrated on solo activity, including the debut COiN release for Opal Tapes, the duo’s schedule grew sporadic. Their third album, Drown, surfaced in 2014; their fourth, Serpens, followed in 2017.
In 2019 Hess and Vallera resumed work at Electrical Audio in Chicago with engineer Greg Norman. Working only from notes and drawings, they produced their fifth album entirely through studio improvisation, seeking to restore the project’s foundational approach. Touch issued the resulting record, The Key, in 2020; it was accompanied by reworkings from Fennesz, Philip Jeck, Bethan Kellough, and Olivia Block.
For their sixth release, Of Endless Light, the pair again explored temporal structure. By adopting the maximum playing time of a compact disc as a framework, they achieved a more refined handling of experimental drones and rhythmic passages, yielding the longest album Cleared has produced.
Albums
