It’s hard, at times, to tell if Grouper’s music is intended as an innocent lullaby or more of a much-needed narcotic of a sleeping pill. On one hand, **Liz Harris’**s soft, supple piano and breathy voice on “Call Across Rooms” is comforting and beautiful, but on the other, there’s an ache lurking beneath the surface that suggests it’s a beauty wrought from pain. Harris, for her part, is plainspoken about “Call Across Rooms” being about equal parts love and loss. “The song is on one level very plain and literal, about a letter I wrote for someone I loved and could not get along with,” she says. On a more subconscious, poetic level, it is a letter to myself, as aspiration to love better.” The Portland musician has an album, Ruins, out on October 31 for Kranky, her eighth since her 2005 debut. Take a listen to this first song, streaming exclusively on Vogue.com.

Stream: Grouper, “Call Across Rooms”