Cleo Handler is a Los Angeles-born singer/songwriter, filmmaker and longtime lyricist in the Advanced BMI Songwriting Workshop, who spent a decade here in Brooklyn, and returned back to Southern California in the “aftermath of an extremely disorienting, sudden breakup with her long-term (musician) partner.
Recorded at Wild Horizon Sound, the recently released, Claire Morrison-produced gold features session musicians Sarsten Noicee and Mike DeLuccia. gold as Handler explains “is about what’s gained when everything feels lost.
Handler’s recently released full-length album gold as she explains “is about what’s gained when everything feels lost. The raw production, honest storytelling, and deeply personal lyrics explore loss of love, community, reality, and even your idea of yourself… and oh, right – it’s a breakup album.
“This album – and accompanying videos – were born out of necessity, in the aftermath of an extremely disorienting, sudden breakup with my long-term (musician) partner,” Handler says.”Writing was the only thing that kept me afloat, and the overpowering urge to channel my own music the only task that made sense. It became a compulsion and I held on for dear life, singing and strumming, even when my voice cracked and my fingers bled.”
“These songs are about empowerment, self- actualization, and finding a reason to go on – and the courage to hope, sing, even laugh – in the darkest times,” Handler adds. “Musically, gold draws inspiration from beloved artists like Liz Phair and Wet Leg, nodding to the strength and snark of Olivia Rodrigo and Hole.“
gold‘s latest single “problem” is a lo-fi bit of indie rock rooted in heart-worn-on-sleeve lyricism, anthemic hooks and scuzzy power chords. Sonically. “gold” immediately brings memories of 120 Minutes-era MTV to mind — in particular Liz Phair, Hole, Veruca Salt and others with the snarky, righteously bitter sarcasm of the heartbroken.
“‘problem’ is about projection, reevaluating what you’ve been told, and reclaiming your power,” Handler says.
Rising Los Angeles-based trio Gal Pal — Emelia Austin (she/her), Shayna Hahn (she/her) and Nico Romero (he/him) — can trace their origins back to a serendipitous meeting in college: The members of the band lived in the same dorm and on the same floor. Each member was drawn to to other by a sense of shared ambition and a desire to play music in a share that felt nonjudgmental and generative. Their initial collaborations were improvisatory, long-winded and playful — and featured recently purchased equipment, including a drum kit no one yet knew how to play. “We were learning our instruments together,” Gal Pal’s Nico Romero says. “The project started from wanting to learn how to play an write songs with other people.”
The Los Angeles-based trio’s latest single “Mirror” altering their creative process — perhaps out of necessity: Austin, Hahn and Romero experimented with writing in isolation, crafting songs with lyrics on their own before bringing them to the group. Featuring production assistance from Danny Noguieras and Sami Perez, the new single is also a bold step forward sonically for the band: Centered around an intricate, looping guitar riff, skittering drum patterns paired with Austin’s plaintive wailing “Mirror” is a shoegazey take on post punk that evokes both the sensation of being hopelessly stuck in a repetitive, dysfunctional pattern — and the slow-burning sense of dread, because there’s the acknowledgement of being stuck, and not knowing how to get out of a hellish loop.
The bands Emelia Austin explains that the song “formed from Nico playing cynical guitar riffs over and over again. It helped me form the theme of being stuck in a pattern. I then wrote lyrics that were cut-off sentences, repeating again and again to express that feeling. For me, ‘Mirror’ is about the ways we allow our identities to be misshaped by people in our lives, how we are used as reflections for others, and the anxiety over being able to control it or not.”
Directed by Will Rydall, the accompanying video follows the band performing in their sun-bathed practice space, in front of various mirrors — and bounding up and around the surrounding hills.
Maddy Boyd is a Santa Fe-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, who cut her teeth with stints in indie rock outfits Current Joys and Surf Curse. In 2019, afterplaying over 150 sold-out shows, Boyd left both bands to pursue her solo recording project Your Angel. That same year. she released her full-length debut, Pipe Dream.
Boyd’s sophomore Your Angel album A Star in the Headlights is slated for a March 17, 2023 release. So far, two of the album’s previously released singles “You Never Say Sorry” and “Misbehave” have received praise from the likes of Consequence,NYLON, and Notion among others.
A Star in the Headlights‘ third and latest single “Good Girl” is a slow-burning Quiet Storm-like bop centered around an atmospheric production featuring lush and glistening synths, skittering beats paired with Boyd’s plaintive and yearning cooing and her unerring knack for catchy hooks. While sonically bringing JOVM mainstays like ACES, Beacon, and others to mind, the song as Boyd explains is ” . . . about dating someone, who always has their sights set somewhere else. It’s about the feeling of spending all of your time with someone and still feeling profoundly alone.”
Over the past couple of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering Los Angeles-born and-based singer/songwriter, guitarist, poet, essayist, visual artist, Dum Dum Records founder, and JOVM mainstay Taleen Kali. Kail (she/they) has made a carer out of writing romantic punk songs that are simultaneously cosmic, dreamy and defiant, and informed by her Armenian heritage and her parents’ birthplaces of Lebanon and Ethiopia. But the material is underpinned by Kali’s desire to seamlessly fuse her cultural heritage and identity with the sounds of the modern countercultures she grew up embracing and exploring as a musician and singer/songwriter.
Kali’s music career started with a stint in Los Angeles-based band TÜLIPS. After TÜLIPS closed up shop in 2016, she stepped out into the limelight as a solo artist, eventually touring across the US with Ex Hex,Alice Bag and Seth Bogart.
The Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstay’s solo debut, 2018’s Kristin Kontrol-produced Soul Songs EP was recorded at Hollywood-based Sunset Sound Studios. The EP, which found Kali’s long-held riot grrl ethos maturing into a multifaceted punk sound and approach with elements of noise pop and New Wave was released to praise from BUST Magazine and Stereogum, who likened her sound to a contemporary Blondie. Soul Songs was also included in Pitchfork‘s Guide to Summer Albums and LA Weekly‘s Best Indie Punk Albums.
Kali along with her backing band followed up with an unplugged version of Soul Songsand covers of The Supremes‘ “Baby Love” and Garbage‘s “#1 Crush.” She also recorded a two-song pandemic project called Changing with her TÜLIPS-era producer Greg Katz.
Taleen Kali’s Jeff Schroeder and Josiah Mazzaschi-co-produced full-length debut Flower of Life is slated for a March 3, 2023 release through Kali’s Dum Dum Records. Sonically, the album reportedly sees the rising Los Angeles further cementing her fuzzy and noisy take on psych punk paired with vocals that run the range of femme punk and shoegaze siren.
Over the past year or so, I’ve written about the following album singles:
Album title track “Flower of Life,” a grungy psych punk ripper centered around fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming, soaring organ chords and Kali’s sneering delivery paired with mosh pit friendly hooks and choruses that sonically was a bit of a synthesis of My Bloody Valentine and riot grrl punk. “‘Flower of Life’ was a spiritual concept I held onto for a long time before writing this song,” Kali explains in press notes. “The flower is a fractal, a cycle, ever blooming, ever decaying.
“Trash Talk“, a jangling Brit Pop-inspired anthem centered around a chugging motorik-like groove, fuzzy power chords, Kali’s unerring knack for rousingly anthemic hooks and a sneering “fuck off” attitude towards haters, trolls and toxic bullshit that almost anyone can relate to.
“Fine Line,” a Too True-era Dum Dum Girls-like confection centered around shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars, a forceful and driving rhythm section paired with Kali’s plaintive delivery and her unerring knack for well, placed, rousingly anthemic hooks.
“Tomorrow Girl,” a shimmering Too True-era Dum Dum Girls-meets shoegaze-like pop confection featuring shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars, Kali’s gorgeous and achingly plaintive delivery paired with a driving rhythm section and enormous hooks. Much like its predecessors, “Tomorrow Girl” is rooted in personal, lived-in experience and hard-won wisdom.
Flower of Life‘s latest single “Crusher” is a swooning, 120 Minutes alt rock-like shoegazer them featuring swirling guitar textures, relentless four-on-the-floor and Kali’s unerring knack for enormous hooks paired with heart-proudly-worn on-sleeve earnestness and a blazing solo from Smashing Pumpkins’ Jeff Shroeder. “Crusher” manages to evoke the sweet ache of having a desperate crush. “Crusher’ is our ultimate shoegaze love song. You ever crush so hard you’ve been brought to your knees? This song is about all those impossible feelings, taking inspiration from some of the greats: Chapterhouse, Lush, Ride, and Curve,” Kali explains. “This song has always been our band favorite and it features a guitar solo from Jeff Schroeder of Smashing Pumpkins so we’ve been saving the best for last…”
Fittingly, the accompanying video for “Crusher” draws from 120 Minutes-era MTV and features romantic imagery — guitars played with roses, roses bursting into flames, shot through kaleidoscopic filters.
Los Angeles-based post punk outfit Object of Affection features members of acclaimed local acts Death Bells, LOCK, and Fury. The project sees its members tapping into the primitivism of their diverse projects while elevating their capacity for both atmosphere and melody. While hints of gloomy punk, brooding New Wave and down-and-out Regan-era alt rock reverberate in their sound and approach, it’s not in pastiche; but rather in a sort of sonic kinship to the austerity and fatalism embedded in the previous generation’s dejected anthems. Plus. holy shit, things are really fucked.
Since the release of the project’s 2020 self-titled, debut EP, they’ve been busy: They’ve released “Through and Through” through Suicide Squeeze — and they’ve already shared stages with the likes of Ceremony, Fiddlehead, Special Interest, Gulch, and a growing list of others. Building upon a growing profile, the members of Object of Affection signed to Profound Lore, who will release their highly-anticipated full-length debut, the ten-song, Alex Newport-produced Field of Appearances on March 3, 2023.
Field of Appearances reportedly sees the band expanding upon their sonic palette with the addition of drum machines, synths, acoustic guitar and auxiliary percussion, highlighting their evolution — and a growing sense of experimentalism. Each of the album’s ten songs are part of a cohesive and complete statement, while standing part on their own, with the material exploding in character, contract and excitement. Thematically, the album’s material touches upon reflection, insufficiency and Déjà vu among others.
Earlier this year, I wrote about the album’s lead single, album opener “Half Life,” an anthemic track that’s one-part angular post-punk, one-part mosh-pit friendly grunge with rousing hooks and a forcefully propulsive rhythm section. Bearing a bit of a resemblance to Ceremony‘s In The Spirit World Now, “Half Life” is rooted in an uneasy and palpable sense of existential dread right around the corner The song thematically touches upon the inevitable passage of time and the aching effects of hopelessness — both are which are often a weird part of life.
“Con-Man,” Field of Appearances‘ latest single continues a run of material that meshes elements of of post-punk and grunge: Centered around a quiet-loud-quiet song structure featuring angular guitars, propulsive drumming and rousingly anthemic hooks, paired with a feedback-driven bridge, “Con-Man” is a remarkably accessible, almost pop-leaning track that throbs with palpable disgust — and a sense of betrayal. The song as the band explains is about “being ripped off and how we deal with wounded pride in the aftermath.”
Employing the use of silhouettes, strobe lights to create a sense of brooding unease.
Rising singer/songwriter, musician and pop artist Alexa Dark is a global citizen, who has spent time in Barcelona, Munich, London, NYC, and Los Angeles. Dark’s work draws from her multicultural, global upbringing and eclectic music taste, including Françoise Hardy, Portishead, Nancy Sinatra, Arctic Monkeys, and others. as well as her love of film noir and French New Wave cinema. While living in London, the rising singer/songwriter and musician began writing her own songs and poetry as a teenager, and eventually playing in and around town — both solo and accompanied with an acoustic guitar and in different bands. Those experiences helped her develop and hone her artistic direction, as well as her sound and presence.
Dark relocated to New York, where she quickly became part of the downtown live music scene and began working on recording new material with Matt Chiaravalle. Since singing with AWAL, the rising pop artist has busily released a batch of noir, alt-pop singles over the past couple of years that sounds as though it could be part of a 60s era Bond movie femme fatale soundtrack.
Dark’s debut EP is slated for a March 3, 2023 release through AWAL. But in the meantime, the Barcelona-born, New York-based artist recently shared the EP’s latest single, “Villain.” Centered around twinkling piano, soaring strings, a simple backbeat paired with Dark’s expressive and sultry delivery, “Villain” sounds as though it were inspired by Poritshead, Tales of Us-era Goldfrapp, and 60s Bond movies. While continuing a remarkable run of brooding and cinematic material, the new single features a narrator, who describes the sensation of watching herself repeatedly self-sabotage. The narrator expresses a desire to be good, to do the right thing but feeling lured in the direction of being bad — and deep down enjoying it,
“‘Villain’ is realising you might be the villain of your own story,” Dark explains. “It’s accepting the shadowy parts of who you are, while hinting towards a darker, painful underlying origin story which makes the villain, the villain.”
She continues “. . . I wanted to explore the multifaceted nature of the ‘villain’ in me, and how my past obstacles, my fears of love and heartbreak, play in shaping this version of myself. I wanted this to be the lead song to my EP, as I think it captures the arc of the story I’m trying to tell throughout the seven songs – the darker side of femininity, how heartbreak and loss might shape us into being something other than ‘the hero’ in our story, and how most often times the battle between the good guy and the bad guy takes place inside of us, facing off ourselves.”
Matt B is a Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter., known globally for crafting romantically-driven, chart topping R&B: His debut, Love & War and his sophomore album Dive landed at #1 on the iTunes R&B charts. Building upon a rapidly growing profile, 2018’s Bryan-Michael Cox-produced EP Rise and his 2021 Cox and Tricky Stewart-co-produced Stateside debut, 2021’s EDEN landed in the Top 40 on Billboard‘s R&B Albums, Digital Albums, Heatseekers and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Charts.
The Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based global R&B artist’s highly-anticipated forthcoming EP ALKEBULAN is slated for a spring release through Vitae Records. The EP derives its name from the ancient name of African, and sees the acclaimed, chart-topping artist paying homage to his African ancestry while further tapping into the Afrobeats-inspired sound he has developed and honed over the course of the past couple of releases.
“ALKEBULAN is a body of work that searches for identity and the longing to reconnect with the Motherland and my people,” Matt B explains. “In search of this identity, I found that the heartbeat of it all is rooted in love. When I first stepped foot on the continent of Africa, that longing for home and search of identity was finally fulfilled. This EP encompasses the summation of this journey.”
“Gimme Love” is a crowd-pleasing, bop rooted in slick, modern production featuring glistening synth arpeggios, processed and chopped up vocal samples, skittering tribal-influenced beats paired with euphoric hooks, serving as a silky, sultry bed for Mike B’s plaintive and achingly vulnerable delivery and Eddy Kenzo’s smooth, easy-going and soulful flow. The end result is a song that’s both club and lounge friendly while being a sweetly earnest love song.
Directed by PhillyFlyBoy, the accompanying video for “Gimme Love” featuring the two collaborations and a collection of some of the most beautiful sisters I’ve ever seen — in beautiful Africa. Give me this all the time!
Gabriel da Rosa is a Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and guitarist. Growing up in rural, southern Brazil with a radio DJ for a father, de Rosa was exposed to a wide variety of music from his his homeland. But it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles that he began curating Brazilian records and DJ’ing himself.
da Rosa wound up bonding with Stones Throw Records‘ label head, founder, artist and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf over their shared love of Brazilian music. The Brazilian-born artist began writing his own bossa nova, inspired by traditional bossa nova but with a contemporary edge with Pedro Dom, a musician, who has worked with some of Brazil’s best, internationally known artists like Seu Jorge, Rodrigo Amarante, and Latin Grammy Award-winner Ian Ramil.
The Brazilian-born artist signed to Stones Throw last year. The label released his debut single, “Jasmin parte 1,” a song that details the enchanted feelings of first meeting someone, but doubting whether that connection will actually last. As de Rosa puts it, “the song is about “wanting to remain in an eternal fairytale.”
His second single “Bandida” was a swooning and swaying, wine-drunk Bossa nova rooted in its creator’s thoughts while in solitude, featuring strummed guitar, da Rosa’s heartbroken and weary delivery and a mournful sax line parried with the genre’s traditional, shuffling rhythms. As da Rosa explains, the song came about after an idle night spent in, drinking wine and strumming his guitar. “The wine and my guitar brought out some bittersweet thoughts — all day, I’m surrounded by amazing people, real friends and acquaintances, but at the end of the day, I’m alone,” he says.
da Rosa’s full-length debut, É o que a casa oferece is slated for a February 17, 2023 release through Stones Throw Records. For Gabriel da Rosa, the appeal of bossa nova is its emotional as well as musical depth. He says, “When you listen to it, you feel blissful – it evokes happy memories. That’s what I’m trying to do on the album.”
The album’s latest single “Cachaça” is named for Brazil’s most popular spirit, and as a result, it evokes being in a Brazilian boteco (bar), swaying drunkenly to the music, lost in your thoughts and memories. But it’s not a sad song. Rather, it’s celebratory. It’s a song celebrating both love won and lost — and well, drinking a bit too much.
Los Angeles-based post punk outfit Automatic — Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, vocals) — can trace their origins to their hometown’s DIY scene: Each individual member had been immersed in the scene when they met. They started jamming back in 2017. The trio quickly became a local club circuit mainstay.
Their full-length debut, 2019’s Signals saw the trio quickly establishing their sound, which paired motorik grooves with icy atmospheres.
The trio’s sophomore album Excess was released last year through Stones Throw Records. The album sees the band sonically riding an imaginary edge where the ’70s underground met ’80s corporate culture. As the band puts it, “That fleeting moment when what was once cool quickly turned and became mainstream all for the sake of consumerism.” Using that particular point in time as a lens through which to view our uncertain and seemingly apocalyptic present, the album’s material sees the trio taking aim at corporate culture and extravagance through deadpan critiques and razor sharp hooks.
Last year, I wrote about two album singles:
“Skyscraper,” a dance floor friendly bop built around glistening synth arpeggios, relentless four-on-the-floor and disco-influenced bass lines paired with an icy, insouciant delivery and razor sharp, well-placed hooks. And while sonically seeming like a slick and effortless synthesis of Blondie, Devo and Talking Heads, the song is rooted in incisive and politically charged commentary. The band’s Halle Saxon explains that “Skyscraper” is ” . . .about spending your life making money and then spending it to fill the void created by said job.” Lola Dompé adds, “Kind of like going to LA to live your dreams.”
“Teen Beat,” a single centered around multi-part harmonized chanted vocals, bubbling and arpeggiated synths and a relentless motorik groove that seemed like a seamless mesh of Gang of Four and Nots. Much like its predecessor, “Teen Beat” continues a run of material that rooted in incisive and urgent political commentary. “The title was taken from a preset on a dinky drum machine, and the song is about the chaos of climate change descending upon Gen Z,” the band explain.
“Turn Away,” Excess‘ latest single is a slow-burning, bop centered around a syrupy groove rooted in a rapid-fire boom bap-like drumming, twinkling, reverb-drenched keys and a propulsive bass line paired with sultrily delivered vocals and the trio’s unerring knack for razor sharp hooks.
Directed by Amber Navarro, the accompanying video for “Turn Away” begins with the band flying aboard a private jet, when something goes disastrously wrong mid-flight. The plane crashes and the trio miraculously survives what appears to be a catastrophic crash in the middle of the desert. Naturally, the members of the band are left to fend for themselves — completely alone.
“We got to work together with Ambar Navarro, our friend and director of the first music video off our album Excess, ‘New Beginning’. We have a lot of fun on set with Ambar because she gets our sense of humor and she visually adds some lightness to the heavier themes of our album, like climate change and income inequality. We become the capitalist death cult in this satirical animation of what could happen if we as a society continue on this path of excess.”
Los Angeles-based post punk outfit Object of Affection features members of Death Bells, LOCK, and Fury. The project sees its members tapping into the primitivism of their diverse projects while elevating their capacity for both atmosphere and melody. While hints of gloomy punk, brooding New Wave and down-and-out Regan-era alt rock reverberate in their sound and approach, it’s not in pastiche; but rather in a sort of sonic kinship to the austerity and fatalism embedded in the previous generation’s dejected anthems. Plus. holy shit, things are really fucked.
Since the release of the project’s 2020 self-titled, debut EP, they’ve been busy: They’ve released “Through and Through” through Suicide Squeeze — and they’ve already shared the stages with the likes of Ceremony, Fiddlehead, Special Interest, Gulch, and a growing list of others. Building upon a growing profile, the members of Object of Affection signed to Profound Lore, who will be releasing their highly-anticipated full-length debut, the ten-song, Alex Newport-produced Field of Appearances on March 3, 2023.
The album reportedly sees the band expanding upon their sonic palette with the addition of drum machines, synths, acoustic guitar and auxiliary percussion, highlighting their evolution — and a growing sense of experimentalism. Each of the album’s ten songs are part of a cohesive and complete statement, while standing part on their own, with the material exploding in character, contract and excitement. Thematically, the album’s material touches upon reflection, insufficiency and Déjà vu among others.
Field of Appearances lead single and album opener “Half Life” is anthemic track that’s one-part angular post-punk, one-part mosh-put friendly grunge centered around rousingly enormous hooks, angular power chords and a forcefully propulsive rhythm section. While bearing a resemblance to Ceremony’s In The Spirit World Now, the song is underpinned by an uneasy and palpable sense of existential dread around the corner: The song thematically touches upon the inevitable passage of time and the aching effects of hopelessness — both are which are often a weird part of life.
Directed by Miwah Lee, the accompanying video for “Half Life” follows a young woman as she goes on an a surrealistic journey through Los Angeles — without an actual plan or real destination in mind.
Los Angeles-born and-based singer/songwriter, guitarist, poet, essayist, visual artist, Dum Dum Records founder, and JOVM mainstay Taleen Kali (she/they) has made a career out of crafting romantic punk songs that are simultaneously cosmic, dreamy and defiant, and informed by her Armenian heritage and her parents’ birthplaces of Lebanon and Ethiopia. But its all underpinned by Kali’s desire to seamlessly fuse her cultural heritage and identity with the sounds of the modern countercultures she grew up embracing and exploring as a musician and singer/songwriter.
Kali’s music career started with a stint in Los Angeles-based band TÜLIPS. After TÜLIPS closed up shop in 2016, she stepped out into the limelight as a solo artist, eventually touring across the US with Ex Hex,Alice Bag and Seth Bogart.
The Los Angeles-based JOVM mainstay’s solo debut, 2018’s Kristin Kontrol-produced Soul Songs EP was recorded at Hollywood-based Sunset Sound Studios. The EP, which found Kali’s long-held riot grrl ethos maturing into a multifaceted punk sound and approach with elements of noise pop and New Wave was released to praise from BUST Magazine and Stereogum, who likened her sound to a contemporary Blondie. Soul Songs was also included in Pitchfork‘s Guide to Summer Albums and LA Weekly‘s Best Indie Punk Albums.
Kali along with her backing band followed up with an unplugged version of Soul Songs and covers of The Supremes‘ “Baby Love” and Garbage‘s “#1 Crush.” She also recorded a two-song pandemic project called Changing with her TÜLIPS-era producer Greg Katz.
Taleen Kali’s Jeff Schroeder and Josiah Mazzaschi-co-produced full-length debut Flower of Life is slated for a March 3, 2023 release through Kali’s Dum Dum Records. Sonically, the album reportedly sees the rising Los Angeles further cementing her fuzzy and noisy take on psych punk paired with vocals that run the range of femme punk and shoegaze siren.
Over the past year or so, I’ve written about the following album singles:
Album title track “Flower of Life,” a grungy psych punk ripper centered around fuzzy power chords, thunderous drumming, soaring organ chords and Kali’s sneering delivery paired with mosh pit friendly hooks and choruses that sonically was a bit of a synthesis of My Bloody Valentine and riot grrl punk. “‘Flower of Life’ was a spiritual concept I held onto for a long time before writing this song,” Kali explains in press notes. “The flower is a fractal, a cycle, ever blooming, ever decaying.
“Trash Talk“, a jangling Brit Pop-inspired anthem centered around a chugging motorik-like groove, fuzzy power chords, Kali’s unerring knack for rousingly anthemic hooks and a sneering “fuck off” attitude towards haters, trolls and toxic bullshit that almost anyone can relate to. “‘Trash Talk’ is a track that speaks out against haters, trolls, and toxic bullshit in the hope that it gives a voice to anybody who’s been silenced or worn down,” Kali explains. “I wanted to write a song that embodies my favorite jangly Brit-pop songs and the energy of ‘do no harm, but take no shit.’”
“Fine Line,” a Too True-era Dum Dum Girls-like confection centered around shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars, a forceful and driving rhythm section paired with Kali’s plaintive delivery and her unerring knack for well, placed, rousingly anthemic hooks. “‘Fine Line’ kicks off side B of the record. I wanted tTo explore the ways we feel marked by love and pain. How much of an impact the smallest of impressions can make. And how they can feel when they fade,” the JOVM mainstay explains. “I wrote this song in the summer of 2018 right when the last album Soul Songs was coming out. The process of putting out my first solo record was so strange and cathartic that a handful of new songs just came spilling out during that time, and this was the first one. I really wanted there to be a demarcation for side B of Flower of Life so ‘Fine Line’ is written in a minor key, setting the tone for the 2nd half of the album.”
Flower of Life‘s fifth and latest single “Tomorrow Girl” continues in a similar vein as its immediate predecessor with the song being a shimmering Too True-era Dum Dum Girls-meets shoegaze-like pop confection featuring shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars, Kali’s gorgeous and achingly plaintive delivery paired with a driving rhythm section and enormous hooks. Much like its predecessors, “Tomorrow Girl” is rooted in personal, lived-in experience and hard-won wisdom.
“‘Tomorrow Girl’ is about finding your future self when the present isn’t cutting it. I wrote this song when I desperately wanted change. Sometimes when we want change we seek the wrong kind of love, we take drastic measures, we make dumb mistakes,” Kali explains. “This song is my dumb mistake. There are so many punk songs titled ‘____ Girl’ and I wanted to write a song in that tradition from a female POV. So, it’s a song about a girl, but we don’t know if the subject of the song is a love interest or if it’s the narrator having an inner conflict, which I wanted to leave purposefully vague; an inherently queer song.”
Eric Krasno, a a two-time Grammy winning, guitarist, producer and JOVM mainstay, best known for his work with Soulive, Lettuce, and Pretty Lights. Krasno has received seven Grammy nominations in the following categories: Best Blues Album, Best Contemporary Blues, Best R&B and Best Electronic Album.
Otis McDonald, a producer and multi-instrumentalist, best known for a large catalog that continues to be used in millions of videos across the Internet.
The trio can trace their collaboration back to April 2020: Krasno came across McDonalds music on Instagram and immediately became a fan. Months later, McDonald who had been woking on material with his longtime friend Chiavaro, enlisted Krasno to add some of his guitar to the mix. And before they knew it, the trio had an album’s worth of material rooted in classic R&B, funk and soul-tinged grooves, nostalgia, and a newfound friendship based in their mutual love for music.
For the creative process and the feel captured on the album are unlike any other project that these artists have been involved with previously. With each musician in a different location — Krasno in Los Angeles, McDonald in San Francisco and Chiavaro in Brooklyn — the band wrote and recorded material remotely while becoming arguably the highest band who never played a gig. “It was easy and fun. Exactly what it should be,” King Canyon’s Otis McDonald says. “It didn’t take long before we had a couple of albums’ worth of songs. Some tracks feature special guests and others showcase the power trio format. King Canyon is fresh and rooted in nostalgia.”
The self-titled full-length debut album’s third and latest single “Ice & Fire” is an old-school soul and R&B-inspired strut centered around twinkling keys, an irresistible, funky groove and swinging, J. Dilla-inspired drumming paired with Son Little’s soulful yet plaintive vocal. Sonically, “Ice & Fire” brings a mix of JOVM mainstays Black Pumas and classic soul to mind — thanks to a dusty, old-timey feel with subtly modern production flourishes, and earnest performances.
“Son Little and I met a few years back at a festival. We had a lot of mutual respect for each other’s music and decided to start writing together,” Eric Krasno explains. “We instantly became tight as friends and frequent collaborators. Ice & Fire is a perfect mixture of the sounds of Son Little & King Canyon. Son’s lyrical imagery blends with the KC’s soundscape creating a unique and soulful sound.“
Caroline Loveglow is a Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who specializes in a meditative dream pop informed by long nights spent at home getting lost in her own head. Sitting in front of her computer, she’d spend her time twisting and contorting familiar sounds into something otherworldly and surreal — pianos could be stretched out into an eerie drone or swirling guitar parts are played through clouds of distortion and reverb. Her dreamy vocals float over the song’s arrangement in an ethereal haze.
Thematically, the Los Angeles-based artist’s work sees her pondering the big existential questions, her own innermost turmoil and what it really means to be human in a mad, mad, mad world.
“Patience, Etc.” appears on Loveglow’s self-produced, full-length debut, Strawberry, which was released earlier this year. Featuring woozy synth arpeggios, a tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap-like breakbeat, distorted and reverb-drenched guitars paired with the Los Angeles-based artist’s ethereal cooing, “Patience” sonically brings The xx, The Horrors, Amber Arcades, and others to mind — but while rooted in yearning and heartbreakingly lived-in lyricism.
Silversun Pickups — Brian Aubert (vocals, guitar, keys). Nikki Monniger (bass, vocals), Chis Guano (drums, percussion, programming, vocals) and Joe Lester (keys, samples, sound manipulation, guitar and vocals) — released their Butch Vig-produced, sixth album Physical Thrills earlier this year. The album’s material came together serendipitously during a particularly dark period: The acclaimed Los Angeles-based outfit started 2020 touring to support 2019’s Widows Weeds. The pandemic halted the rest of their tour and forced the band to retreat to their homes.
With touring on hold, Silversun Pickups’ Brian Aubert channeled his energy into taking care of his son. Although his focus initially shifted from the band to domestic affairs, he found that he couldn’t escape the new melodies that had been germinating in his head. “I would sneak off and start writing these songs, and I didn’t know what they’re for because I didn’t really think about Silversun on any level. I was just doing it to keep myself calm and keep myself company,” Aubert explains. The songs were so different from what he’d previously written for Silversun Pickups that he initially thought he might have been writing a musical. He would describe them as “dream shanties” with gentler vocals, horror-inspired sounds and newer elements coming to mind. But the material isn’t meant to be somber; instead, Aubert manages to explore his own comfort — and discomfort — in seemingly indefinite, newfound isolation.
When Aubert presented the new material he had been working o to his bandmates, they readily embraced what would be a new direction for the band. They decided to continue their collaboration with Butch Vig, who had produced and recorded Widow’s Weeds at his Wisconsin home studio. Once Aubert made plans to visit Vig and play him what he had worked on, more music came. Aubert immediately began recording material with Vig, with the rest of the band joining later.
When Aubert revealed the new material to his bandmates, they readily embraced the new direction—and so did producer Butch Vig. The band reunited with Vig, who first worked with SilversunPickups on Widow’s Weeds, recording the album at the famed producer and Garbage-member’s home. Once Aubert made plans to visit Vig and play him what he had, the music began pouring out. He immediately began recording with Vig, having the rest of the band join later.
With the album arguably being the most exploratory of the band’s catalog, each of the band’s members felt much more free to explore and traverse new ground: Guanlao, who usually shies away from drum fills, took inspiration from The Beatles documentary Get Back and Ringo Starr’s drum work on Let It Be threw some in on the album. Monniger’s vocals were showcased much more than on their previously recorded material. And Joe Lester took on a larger writing role, writing the piano part for “We Won’t Come Out,” which became the backbone of the song.
Although the album features an eclectic mix of sounds and melodies, each song on the album is interconnected with each other, and meant to be experienced as a whole body of work. “All of our records are designed for people who want to listen to them all the way through and hopefully stick around with it,” says Aubert. “After a while, maybe you’ll catch on to the little things—not just the [pattern of] the dream songs, but maybe you’ll hear that, and you’ll hear a melody from the first song in the last song. There are crossover things happening.” Monninger adds, “We’ve been together for twenty-two years; it’s really interesting that we still love doing this. We know that we’re fortunate to still be together after all these years, seeking out the silver lining. I feel like we still have many more things to say, and we’re so happy with how this album turned out.”
Silversun Pickups close out 2022 with a slow-burning and shoegazey, Butch Vig-produced cover of Low’s “Just Like Christmas” that pulls out the gentle yearning and wistfulness out a bit further to the forefront. All proceeds from the song will be donated to Union Gospel Mission, a charity of Alan Sparkhawk’s choice — in Mimi Parker’s name. Silversun Pickups suggest that you should consider directly supporting and listening through Bandcamp — and based on the fact that it’s worthwhile cause, you should.
We’ve been fans of Low’s beautiful music for a long time now. When we heard the news about Mimi’s passing, we were incredibly sad. With Alan’s blessing, we decided to cover one of their Christmas songs, with hopes of raising money for a cause dear to Alan in Mimi’s name. Low’s Christmas is a classic. It was the first one I ever heard that made me feel holiday music could be cool.”
The band will resume touring to support Physical Thrills in 2023. Check out the tour dates below.
Tour Dates Fri, Feb 17, 2023 Birmingham, AL Iron City Sun, Feb 19, 2023 Knoxville, TN Mill & Mine Mon, Feb 20, 2023 Asheville, NC Orange Peel Tue, Feb 21, 2023 Louisville, KY Mercury Ballroom Thu, Feb 23, 2023 McKees Rock, PA Roxian Theater Fri, Feb 24, 2023 Cincinnati, OH Bogarts Sat, Feb 25, 2023 Chicago, IL Radio Show Tue, Feb 28, 2023 Little Rock, AR The Hall Thu, Mar 2, 2023 New Orleans, LA House of Blues Sat, Mar 4, 2023 San Antonio, TX The Aztec Theatre Sun, Mar 5, 2023 Ft Worth, TX Tannahill’s Mon, Mar 6, 2023 Dallas, TX House of Blues Tue, Mar 7, 2023 Houston, TX House of Blues Thu, Mar 9, 2023 Austin, TX Emo’s
