In Virus Times is an instrumental acoustic piece in four parts, written and performed by Lee Ranaldo, stretching over one side of vinyl. The b-side is an etching drawn by Ranaldo, and the cover is by Brazilian photographer, Anna Paula Bogaciovas. The limited transparent turquoise vinyl edition comes with an art poster, signed and numbered by Lee Ranaldo.

Ranaldo explains, “This recording began on an evening in September 2020, stuck at home in lower Manhattan during the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic as we came out of a deadly summer. A heightened sense of anxiety stemming from the then-upcoming US Presidential elections as well as the virus seemed to pervade all aspects of life, for myself and everyone I knew. Its minimal quality reflects the sense of ‘motionless time’ that many of us felt.”

Recorded in his home (studios being closed at that point), he goes on to say, “The casual home ambience – a siren or truck rumbling down the street out the window; someone talking around the table in another part of the loft; water running – intrudes at points. I worked to develop a few simple thematic elements, but mostly I wanted to hear the notes and chords ringing out, hanging in the air for a long time on that evening when the world seemed close to stopping on its axis.”