"You Are No Clone" is a collection of recordings made remotely between 2021 & 2023; another product of our weekly virtual meetings, which we began early in the pandemic. This release, plus "Emergency!", and "Feel Good Everywhere", share a similar remote creation process.

"Hang of it All", "Intruder", and "How We Move On" evolved from voice memos recorded as I was writing them in my empty apartment in Quito, Ecuador. In a way, you're hearing these three songs as they were being conceived, lyrics and all. I recorded these voice memos while in the process of moving back to the U.S. My nephew Xavi lent me his acoustic guitar. (My instruments were already Stateside.) I originally envisioned someone else singing lead on "Intruder". In the end, we settled on a combination of my main vocal with harmonies by J.J. and SPOUSE co-founder Alisha Goldblatt. And when Liz uploaded her ghostly synths for us to hear... yep, yes, yes.

"Leg" is one of the earliest SPOUSE songs, demoed circa 1993 or 1994. J.J. supplied the drums before he'd ever heard the song. When I listened to the beat, it immediately reminded me of the chords, tempo, and rhythm of "Leg". The melody and lyrics shot back to me. I layered a couple of guitars over the drums and, lo and behold, they fit, and suddenly there was a chance to revive this long-lost tune.

"Not Caving In" is the tune that perhaps best exemplifies our remote recording process. It started with a guitar idea that Dan proposed in March of 2021, and we collectively tweaked and massaged the rest of the instrumentation and vocal arrangement into existence, reaching the mixing stage in April of 2023. "More Pills" followed a similar, though shorter, trajectory. Having a tune with two bridge sections is kind of new for us, and why not? The song's title recalls the tune "Pill" from the Nuclear Waste Management Club album. This is intentional, though the song itself bears no sonic similarity.

Finally, "The Rebel in You" is a tune that I began writing for ASJ (A Severe Joy), but when I played the demo at a virtual SPOUSE meeting one day, the reaction was immediately positive, and the crew got to work on it. The tune indeed benefited from everyone's collaboration and contributions (the result eclipses the demo, in my opinion).

There are many more tunes in various stages of development. Maybe one day we'll complete those too.

Thanks for your continued support,

SPOUSE appreciates you.

José Ayerve, 10/05/2023