Poulenc and Pury’s highly collaborative album is a deep dive into the organic, dry, human life. The two musicians explore the sounds of their own lives and each other, as they make one another feel their best. There’s a lot of warmth in the music, with each instrument offering a tune or a vocal sample from that conversation. “The Big Snow” opens with a soprano trumpet’s haunting acoustic line while Pury softens the edges to an unequivocal trumpet line. Pury’s lyrics become a riddle of her own. “There’s no life without you”, she writes. “You are there” she insists. “You’re what’s happening to me/ You’re what’s happening”.

Poulenc and Pury’s music is evocative, with their first two tracks conjuring a world where you’ve got to get up and go to work every day to stay alive. “Sidewalk” begins with a chorus of the word “breathe” and “you’re breathing”. The music’s the same, except here it’s an electronic dance. “For the last two years, I have lived…” Pury sings. “I want to breathe…” Pury’s voice is an open invitation to the listener. “I want to breathe”.

“The Big Snow” is a two hour anthem of life, the sound of the breath, the oscillation of your heartbeat and the softest of slaps on the cheek. “You’re not the only life you’re breathing”, she sings, “You’re not the only voice in your heart”, “you’re not the only spot in your soul”.

“This is what I am”, she sings on “You’re Breathing”, “you’re breathing” – a sound that is not just physical, but mental and emotional, and the focus of the album. Pury’s voice is a metaphoric breath.

Shifting from her acoustic trumpet on “You’re Breathing”, she shifts to her electronic clarinet on “Dreams”. The oddest track is “Lucille,” a piece that is both global and local. It’s a piece that is as emotional as it is mechanical. It’s as wild as it is, as diverse as it is pure organic. “Lucky,” a strange, shimmering piece that is both collective and individual, tells the story of a lonely woman who’s been growing a new garden in a remote corner of a nice suburban home. “I’ve got a butterfly,” she sings, “I’m breathing”, “I’m breathing.”