The “Across the Horizon” series sets the goal of bringing together a like-minded community of instrumental pioneers and encouraging them to explore beyond their normal pathways, taking them, and their fans, into previously unexplored territories. By choosing a group of artist/curators each year and asking them to bring forth their favorite artist peers, we hope to broaden the landscape of instrumental music and emulate the kind of discovery that happens when artists sit down to chat about their influences. Finding connections, shared roots, and new inspiration in the process.
VOLUME TWO (2025/2026)
DROP 1
Curator: Clarice Jensen
w/ music by Clarice Jensen, Adjuster66, and Grey Mcmurray
DROP 2
Curator: marine eyes
w/ music by marine eyes, Jessica Roch, and Lauren Helene Green
DROP 3
Curator: Balmorhea/RG Lowe
with music by Balmorhea, Takeshi Nishimoto, and Rachel Grimes
DROP 4
Curator: Chuck Johnson
with music by Chuck Johnson, Cole Pulice, and Marielle V Jakobsons
DROP 5
Curator: Alan Sparhawk
with music by Alan Sparhawk, Kenneth Gregory, and Liz Draper
DROP 6
Curator: Mary Lattimore
with music by Mary Lattimore, Meg Baird, and Nailah Middleton
DROP 7
Curator: East Forest
with music by East Forest, Brad Barr, and tba
DROP 8
Curator: Carlos Niño
with music by Carlos Niño, Nate Mercereau, and Aaron Shaw
Volume One (2024/2025)
DROP 1
Curator: Mark Nelson / Pan American
w/ music by Pan American, Chelsea Bridge, and MJ Guider
DROP 2
Curator: Luke Schneider
w/ music by Luke Schneider, Kyle Hamlett Duo, and Marisa Anderson
DROP 3
Curator: Dave Harrington
with music by Dave Harrington, eucademix (Yuka C. Honda), and Nicole McCabe
DROP 4
Curator: Marisa Anderson
with music by Marisa Anderson, Charlie Parr, and Emily Dix Thomas
DROP 5
Curator: Stelth Ulvang
with music by Stelth Ulvang, Lake Mary (feat. Heavy Gus), and The Great Quiet
DROP 6
Curator: Walt McClements
with music by Walt McClements, Natalia Beylis, and Yara Asmar
DROP 7
Curator: David Moore
with music by David Moore, Stephanie Coleman, and Cowboy Sadness
DROP 8
Curator: William Tyler
with music by William Tyler, Julianna Barwick, and Claire Rousay
HOW THE PROJECT WORKS
● Across the Horizon is a yearly, invite-only music compilation organized by Northern Spy Records and Bob Holmes (of SUSS and the Ambient Country Podcast)
● Each year, the team invites 8 artist/curators to contribute tracks, and each curator invites 2 additional artists to contribute tracks. So 8 artist/curators inviting 2 artists each = 24 tracks of super unique, never-released material by a self-selected community of like-minded artists.
● NSPY releases the track in groups of 3 (the curator and invited artist tracks) over a year
● At the end of the cycle, it culminates with a subscriber-exclusive double vinyl release & Zine (with artists and content from the artist)
● The tracks are windowed to Bandcamp subscribers 1st and then released a few weeks later publicly to Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, etc.
● All ATH tracks are mastered by Chuck Johnson.
● PR for the project is handled by Gabe Birnbaum at Clandestine Label Services.
ABOUT YOUR SUBMISSIONS
● If you are invited to contribute a track, you should have a discussion with your curator about what you’d like to do.
● There are no genre parameters for the music - we trust the curators and the artists they choose to contribute whatever they feel at the moment.
● For the double vinyl version, we need a track that is no more than 3 1/2 minutes, but you can also submit a longer version of the track for the digital version if you want.
● You also need to submit a press photo and a one-paragraph artist statement about your track
● Once you agree to submit a track, you will get looped in the NSPY team and be given a term sheet to sign (3 year license 60/40 split to you).