Youngbloods welcomes the still of winter with "in cloudy states," the newest collection of conceptual ambient works from label-mainstay Sontag Shogun. Delicate and serene, the group explores the ever-changing shape of motifs and memories as they develop and distort over time across four electroacoustic chapters.

"in cloudy states" takes inspiration from a simple prompt presented by pianist Ian Temple: how can a single piano motif evolve and stretch throughout different perspectives and interpretations? Temple wrote a theme for the idea, inspired by a bittersweet reflection on the impossibility of truly capturing, and keeping, any singular moment with his family:

“Whether because I don’t realize how important they are as they’re happening or because memory flattens and distorts details as soon as the moment passes….the more you try to hold on, the worse it is, and the worse off you are.

Temple’s lead melody was first recorded on a voice note and later further developed on his childhood piano, both of which were shared with Young and Perlstein to be reprocessed, and reimagined. The trio swapped versions back and forth: extended and abbreviated piano edits, drones, vocal versions, and beat oriented reconfigurations, all of which see the original piano line repeat, unfold, degrade, flatten, and become swallowed by sound until it is ultimately co-opted by time.