Praised by Jimmy Page as "riveting," Janaka Stucky's book length poem, Ascend Ascend, published by Jack White's Third Man Books in 2019, gets a mesmerizing treatment on this album by the same name, accompanied by experimental cellist Lori Goldston. Goldston, known for her work with a number of acts-including Nirvana, Cat Power, and Earth-provides otherworldly layers of distortion and natural reverb over Stucky's dirge-like vocal performance. Recorded at the All Pilgrims Church in Seattle while Stucky was on a 7-city tour produced by Atlas Obscura in 2019, the performance is served well by the room's ambiance and was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Mell Dettmer-who has engineered albums for acts such as Earth, Sunn O))), Master Musicians of Bukkake, and Wolves in the Throne Room.