Magdalena Bay – the duo of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin – have shared a new song called ‘You Lose!’, the latest offering from their forthcoming debut album Mercurial World. Check out a music video for it below.
“We ran out of video budget, we lost our dog, and we suck at basketball,” the duo explained in a statement. “Sometimes you win but most times you lose!”
Mercurial World is set to arrive October 8. It features the previously released tracks ‘Secrets (Your Fire)’ and ‘Chaeri’.
Kacey Musgraves barely sets the scene. Within the first few lines of her new album, star-crossed, two lovers wake up from the perfect dream, only to be met with darkness. Before you know it, the East Texas songwriter – who filed for divorce a little over a year after her immaculate third album, Golden Hour, won the Grammy for Album of the Year – is signing the papers and moving out of their shared home. Where Golden Hour basked in the glow of her new marriage to fellow Nashville singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly, star-crossed chronicles its dissolution. And despite its dramatic presentation – the 15-track LP is billed as a “tragedy in three parts” and is accompanied by a film of equal length – the arrangements here are intimate and her delivery modest and restrained, laying out the story in relatively straightforward terms. Even with the acknowledgment that this is “golden hour faded black,” she revels in the radiant simplicity that gave her previous album its universal appeal, attempting to stay more or less in the same lane while venturing into much darker emotional territory.
The results, unfortunately, are mixed, though mostly in an intriguing or unglamorous rather than downright offensive manner (‘cherry blossom’, which includes the line “Tokyo wasn’t built in a day,” is a notable exception). At her best, Musgraves can bring out the nuance and tension of a phrase like “happy and sad at the same time” without coming off as trite or corny, just as she can make her fusion of modern production and retro-pop flourishes sound effortless and inviting. This is still true on star-crossed. Her longing for the ‘simple times’ only accentuates the weariness and melancholy in her voice. On ‘if this was a movie..’, she indulges in a romantic fantasy undercut by dreamy, despondent production that almost renders the ultimate “but it’s not a movie” redundant, a sign of surrender more than a sudden realization. But she often misses the mark when it comes to finding a deeper resonance in vague platitudes about the “light at the end of the tunnel” or at least twisting them in a clever way (“What doesn’t kill you/ Better run”).
One of Musgraves’ most potent observations is that “healing doesn’t happen in a straight line.” It also provides a sort of emotional compass for the record, which veers from one sentiment to the next despite being framed as having a distinct narrative thread. That line is from ‘justified’, a song in which she admits both parties bear some culpability for the breakup; two songs later comes ‘breadwinner’, which finds her at her most bitter. The writing is some of Musgraves’ most cutting – “He wants a breadwinner/ He wants your dinner/ Until he ain’t hungry anymore/ He wants your shimmer/ To make him feel bigger/ Until he starts feeling insecure” – deftly expressing personal heartbreak through an apparent reflection on gender roles, something she also does on ‘good wife’.
Depending on how you look at it, ‘breadwinner’ either the album’s most compelling track or the most frustrating. There’s absolutely nothing here to match the bite of the lyrics – the song is set to a lightly shimmering dance beat that makes the whole thing sound removed and understated, which is most likely the point: it underscores the feelings of emptiness and uncertainty that cast a shadow over the album, so much so that whatever details shine through barely matter. It’s easy for star-crossed to slip into the background, lulling you into thinking it’s just a moodier version of Golden Hour that can be enjoyed in pretty much any context, whether you’re invested in the story or not. But the contrast on ‘breadwinner’ is so jarring that you’re forced to pay closer attention, and Musgraves follows it up with some of the album’s best tracks.
In the folkier ‘camera roll’, the singer is once again tempted to lose herself in the past rather than coming at it from a place of reflection. This time, the writing is precise and all the more affecting: “Chronological order/ And nothing but torture/ Scroll too far back, that’s what you get.” Nothing on star-crossed is in order, and Musgraves struggles to push through the messiness of it all. She attempts to strike a balance between a sense of vulnerability on triumph, but the glistening sonic palette rarely suggests a full embrace of either. Which is why, when she delivers the lessons she’s learned with genuine emotion on the stripped-back ‘hookup scene’, things really couldn’t be simpler. That is, of course, until she ends the record with a bold, deconstructed version of Violeta Parra’s ‘gracias a la vida’, where her vocals are processed as if to uncover some hidden truth before the curtain closes. It’s her playing with time, bending her way through it, yet still arriving somewhere eternally familiar – and it’s the album’s one true revelation.
Grouper has unveiled a new song from her forthcoming album Shade. ‘Ode to the Blue’ follows previous offering ‘Unclean Mind’, and it comes with a black-and-white video directed by Dicky Bahto. Watch and listen below.
Bahto shared the following statement on the new video:
Liz sent me a love song in the middle of the worst part of the pandemic in Los Angeles to think about making a film for. I was depressed and scared and felt incapable of thinking. She mentioned picturing people kissing; and “maybe something in a graveyard.” I wanted to see my friends. I wanted to feel intimacy again. I thought: what if the film is just people making out in graveyards?
In Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights I found myself surrounded by graves for people who, like my own grandparents, had survived the Armenian and Assyrian genocide a little over a hundred years ago. After a year of fear over the pandemic, growing support for right-wing authoritarianism, and the escalating climate crisis—with a popular narrative that we’re living through the end of the world—I needed the reminder that the end of the world is always happening somewhere, and even if we don’t survive the end of our world, we might as well enjoy the pleasures of love. Watching my friends kiss was a hot, fresh breath direct from their mouths that made me feel a joy I hadn’t experienced in far too long.
Shade is out October 22 via Kranky.
Snail Mail, aka 22-year-old Lindsey Jordan, has announced a new album: Valentine is out November 5 via Matador. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the album’s lead single and title track, which is accompanied by a Josh Coll-directed video. Check it out below, along with the LP’s cover artwork and tracklist.
Valentine, the follow-up to Snail Mail’s 2018 debut Lush, was written and produced by Jordan and co-produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee) between 2019 and 2020. “I wanted to take as much time as possible with this record to make sure I was happy with every detail before unleashing it unto y’all,” Jordan said in a statement. “Referring to the process as the deepest level of catharsis and therapy I have ever experienced would be a huge understatement. Valentine is my child!”
Of the video for ‘Valentine’, she added: “It was so rewarding concocting this video alongside the brilliant Josh Coll! Watching a few perverse images in my head metamorphose into this gorgeous storyline and eventually into a tangible visual was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. We connected over a mutual interest in the intersection between terror and devastating beauty. But also Tim and Eric and watered down ginger ale, which I had to drink a shocking amount of in those drink-bombing scenes.”
Also today, Snail Mail has announced a run of UK, European, and North American dates for 2021 and 2022. Tickets go on general sale Wednesday, September 22 at 10am BST. Find her tour schedule below, too.
Valentine Cover Artwork:
Valentine Tracklist:
1. Valentine
2. Ben Franklin
3. Headlock
4. Light Blue
5. Forever (Sailing)
6. Madonna
7. c. et. al.
8. Glory
9. Automate
10. Mia
Snail Mail Tour Dates 2021/2022:
Sat Nov 27 2021 – Richmond VA – The National *
Sun Nov 28 2021 – Charlotte NC – Neighborhood Theatre *
Tue Nov 30 2021 – Orlando FL – The Beacham Theater *
Wed Dec 1 2021 – Tampa FL The Ritz Ybor *
Fri Dec 3 2021 – Birmingham AL – Saturn *
Sat Dec 4 2021 – Knoxville TN – The Mill & Mine *
Sun Dec 5 2021 – Louisville KY – Headliners Music Hall *
Tue Dec 7 2021 – Milwaukee WI – Turner Hall *
Wed Dec 8 2021 – Madison WI – Majestic Theatre *
Fri Dec 10 2021 – St Louis MO – The Pageant *
Sat Dec 11 2021 – Bloomington IL – The Castle Theatre *
Sun Dec 12 2021 – Columbus OH – The Athenaeum Theatre *
Mon Dec 13 2021 – Detroit MI – Majestic Theatre *
Wed Dec 15 2021 – Millvale PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre *
Thu Dec 16 2021 – New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place *
Fri Dec 17 2021 – Providence RI – Fete Music Hall *
Sat Dec 18 2021 – Asbury Park NJ – The Stone Pony *
Sun Dec 19 2021 – Norfolk VA – The NorVa *
Tue Dec 21 2021 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore *
Fri Feb 18 2022 – Manchester UK – Manchester Academy 2
Sun Feb 20 2022 – Glasgow UK – QMU
Tue Feb 22 2022 – Bristol UK – SWX
Wed Feb 23 2022 – London UK – O2 Forum Kentish Town
Fri Feb 25 2022 – Paris FR – Le Trabendo
Sat Feb 26 2022 – Lyon FR – Epicerie Moderne
Sun Feb 27 2022 – Bologna IT – Locomotiv
Mon Feb 28 2022 – Milan IT – Magnolia
Wed Mar 2 2022 – Zürich CH – Bogen F
Thu Mar 3 2022 – Munich DE – Ampere
Fri Mar 4 2022 – Dresden DE – Groovestation
Sun Mar 6 2022 – Copenhagen DK – Loppen
Mon Mar 7 2022 – Gothenburg SE – Oceanen
Tue Mar 8 2022 – Oslo NO – Parkteatret
Thu Mar 10 2022 – Stockholm SE – Slaktkyrkan
Sat Mar 12 2022 – Berlin DE – Columbia Theater
Sun Mar 13 2022 – Hamburg DE – Knust
Mon Mar 14 2022 – Brussels BE – AB Ballroom
Tue Mar 15 2022 – Cologne DE – Gebäude 9
Wed Mar 16 2022 – Amsterdam NL – Paradiso Noord
Tue Apr 5 2022 – Philadelphia PA – Union Transfer #
Wed Apr 6 2022 – Philadelphia PA – Union Transfer #
Thu Apr 7 2022 – Brooklyn NY – Kings Theatre #
Fri Apr 8 2022 – Boston MA – Royale #
Sat April 9 2022 – Montreal QC – Club Soda #
Mon Apr 11 2022 – Toronto ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre #
Tue Apr 12 2022 – Cleveland OH – Agora Theatre #
Thu Apr 14 2022 – Chicago IL – Riviera Theatre #
Fri Apr 15 2022 – Minneapolis MN – First Avenue #
Sat Apr 16 2022 – Lawrence KS – Liberty Hall #
Sun Apr 17 2022 – Denver CO – Ogden Theater #
Wed Apr 20 2022 – Seattle WA – Moore Theatre +
Thu Apr 21 2022 – Vancouver BC – Vogue Theatre +
Fri Apr 22 2022 – Portland OR – Wonder Ballroom +
Sat Apr 23 2022 – Portland OR – Wonder Ballroom +
Sun Apr 24 2022 – Oakland CA – Fox Theater +
Wed Apr 27 2022 – Los Angeles CA – Hollywood Palladium +
Thu Apr 28 2022 – San Diego CA – The Observatory North Park +
Fri Apr 29 2022 – Mesa AZ – The Nile +
Sat Apr 30 2022 – Santa Fe NM – Meow Wolf +
Mon May 2 2022 – Austin TX – ACL Live at the Moody Theater +
Tue May 3 2022 – Dallas TX – The Factory Studio +
Thu May 5 2022 – Atlanta GA – The Masquerade – Heaven Stage +
Fri May 6 2022 – Asheville NC – The Orange Peel +
Sat May 7 2022 – Carrboro NC – Cat’s Cradle +
Sun May 8 2022 – Nashville TN – Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville +
* w/ Spencer and Hotline TNT
# w/ Joy Again
+ w/ The Goon Sax
The War on Drugs have unveiled the title track from their upcoming album I Don’t Live Here Anymore. Co-produced by Adam Granduciel and Shawn Everett, the song features backing vocals by Lucius. Check out its Emmett Malloy-directed visual below.
I Don’t Live Here Anymore, the follow-up to 2017’s A Deeper Understanding, arrives October 29 via Atlantic Records. The band previously shared the album’s lead single ‘Living Proof’, which they recently performed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Having your songs on vinyl records is a dream every musician has whether they admit it or not.
However, the process of having your songs released on vinyl records can sometimes be so overwhelming and complex that you just want to ditch the idea of releasing custom vinyl records. It’s quite a struggle especially if you know nothing about custom vinyl records.
To help you go through these vinyl record pressing struggles, here is a list of tips you might want to consider when you publish your songs on vinyl:
#1 CONSTRUCT A TIMELINE FOR YOUR RELEASE
After deciding to have your own vinyl record pressing done, you need to remember to give yourself and your chosen pressing plant ample time before the release date. There’s no such thing as rush order when it comes to vinyl pressing. So demanding to have your 500 or 1000 custom vinyl record copies sent to you after 24 hours will not be possible.
To avoid delaying your vinyl release, you need to construct a timeline that you will need to strictly follow. Moreover, you will need to know your chosen pressing plant’s turnaround time to adjust your timeline.
I also suggest that you plan as early as six months before the release date so that you can avoid delaying your release due to issues that were not anticipated. Additionally, your songs should already be mastered four months before release if you also plan on releasing CDs and want to release them together.
#2 KNOW THE DIFFERENT FORMATS OF THE VINYL RECORD
Before you go and order your vinyl records, you need to know the different formats the vinyl record format has. Knowing the difference among them will help you choose the right vinyl record for your vinyl release.
There are mainly three formats of vinyl records and these are based on their size. These three formats also have different revolutions per minute (rpm) and two different weights that affect playback time and its quality respectively.
The 7” vinyl record is the smallest and in turn holds the shortest playback among the three. It is suitable for single releases that may be accompanied by one b-side or an extended play (EP) release with around three to four tracks.
The 10” vinyl record is in the middle and is sometimes called “dubplate”. Its duration is around thirty minutes so it’s best chosen for EP releases that have five to seven tracks.
The 12” vinyl record is the longest format and it refers to the classical vinyl record format. It can play for forty five minutes, depending on the rpm, which makes it the best format for album releases with eight and more tracks.
Revolutions per minute (rpm)
There are three rpms for both 10” and 12” format while there are two for the 7” format. Revolutions per minute is the speed rate at which the record spins during playback. The faster the rpm, the shorter the playback.
| Size | Rpm | Playback Time per Side |
| 7” | 33 ⅓ | 7 minutes |
| 7” | 45 | 5 minutes |
| 10” | 33 ⅓ | 15 minutes |
| 10” | 45 | 12 minutes |
| 10” | 78 | 3 minutes |
| 12” | 33 ⅓ | 22 minutes |
| 12” | 45 | 15 minutes |
| 12” | 78 | 5 minutes |
Above are the sizes, their different rpms, and their corresponding playback time per side. Take note that these are the maximum playback time for each and must not be reached by your single, EP, or album tracks. It’s best to have some allowance or the record’s quality will drop.
Weight
The weight of a vinyl record can affect the quality of sound your record produces. We have the standard weight and the heavyweight and between the two, some audiophiles prefer the latter one.
According to them, the heavier vinyl records offer a higher quality because it stays in place during playback. There’s no harm in having the standard one though because it can stay on the player though not as much as the heavyweight ones. Moreover, the heavyweight cost much more than the standard weight so it’s all up to you.
| Size | Weight |
| 7” | 42g |
| 7” | 70g |
| 10” | 110g |
| 10” | 180g |
| 12” | 140g |
| 12” | 180g |
#3 PREPARE EVERYTHING BEFORE HAVING YOUR RECORDS PRESSED
If you want to significantly cut down vinyl pressing cost, prepare your tracks, designs, and artworks should already be done before you go on and have a vinyl record pressing. Tracks must be mastered for vinyl, so you better have two masters on your hands one for vinyl the other for digital or CD release.
If you plan on releasing custom vinyl records instead of the standard black ones, then it would be best to have your record’s design ready. Moreover, artworks for your jackets and sleeves should also be prepared. You should also prepare your International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) and Universal Product Code (UPC) to manage the copyright of your tracks and the distribution and sales of your album.
#4 KNOW HOW VINYL RECORDS ARE PRODUCED
Vinyl record pressing is not a cheap production where you can just wing it with whatever money you have left. To understand how and why this production costs so much, it would be great to know how they’re done.
Lathe Cutting: Lathe cutting is the step where your tracks are cut onto the surface of the lathe with the help of the needle in a lathe cutter. The person cutting your tracks will be bringing down the needle onto the spinning lathe and it cuts through it. It’s just like how a turntable’s needle would do during playback, minus the cutting.
Electroplating: After cutting, the cut lathe is then submerged into liquid nickel to create the metal electroplated stamper needed for pressing. The nickel occupies the spaces on the lathe cut by the needle which creates a negative image of the grooves.
Vinyl Pressing: As soon as the metal stamper is finished, the actual pressing of blobs of vinyl can start. Around thirty seconds and you’ll have one newly pressed custom vinyl record.
Packaging: During the record’s pressing, there will be excess vinyl on the side and these are cut away while the completely furnished vinyl record is put into an antistatic sleeve. Then your vinyl records’ packaging will commence.
#5 HAVE YOUR VINYL RECORDS PRESSED IN SMALL QUANTITIES
Even if the vinyl record format is gaining an audience again, we cannot deny that it will be hard to sell a thousand copies. One, you’ve got numerous competitors since many musicians are releasing on the format. Two, vinyl records are expensive format which can discourage some young fans from buying.
To ensure that you will sell enough, you should consider ordering in small quantities preferably 100 or 200 copies. It’s not much but not too small a number. You can also try setting up a pre-order period to have more gauge of how many would buy.
#6 CAREFULLY REVIEW YOUR TEST PRESSING
Before your pressing plants start to mass produce your vinyl records, they will send you a test pressing. This test pressing is your last chance at correcting any mistakes or distortions on your record so better review them carefully. You can then send your go signal after.
Vinyl record is a great format to release on.
Sure, it can be very challenging but it will surely be worth it. Just make sure to read through these 6 tips and I’m sure it would be less stressful and much more enjoyable.
Good luck,enjoy the process, and make sure to let us know once you’ve pressed your records.
GameStop versus digital downloads. Nintendo versus Twitch. Paid content versus free-to-play titles. The gaming industry is fundamentally different than it was ten to 20 years ago, so much so that you may not recognize it if you’re of a certain age.
Several factors have pushed the sector forward beyond recognition, but none have been as instrumental as live streaming software. The use of a streaming bitrate calculator is highly needed to get an accurate video and audio bitrate that you need to deliver a smooth live stream. The technology is widely accessible and a basic expectation of modern gamers, making it essential to the user experience. The question is, how has the industry evolved as a direct result of the tech’s introduction?
Considering a gamer’s ‘joystick years’ averages 3844, you may assume a video game’s lifecycle lasted longer. The people who play them are since the right title can add ten years to your life. However, releases often come and go within months and weeks, not years. This puts a huge burden on developers to create the next hottest game unless they utilize live streaming software.
When you look across the gaming spectrum, you will notice that live streaming titles have considerably longer shelf lives than standard video games. Free-to-play releases, also known as eSports such as League of Legends and Fortnite, are powerful examples. Thanks to live streams, legacy events take place yearly, attracting thousands of people in person and millions digitally. Online casinos also highlight the evergreen nature of live streaming solutions, as a live casino online offers a small selection of core products that rarely change, from poker and blackjack to roulette and baccarat. Customers know what’s coming before opening a stream. Still, the novelty of placing wagers from the comfort of your home while a real-life dealer or croupier hosts from a land-based establishment means the services never lose their appeal. And there are plenty of live games to choose from too.
So, don’t be surprised if releases in the future remain in your close circle for longer than normal. If they contain live streaming elements, which most do today, the gameplay will continue to be relevant months later.
The console wars of the 1990s were incredibly entertaining. Everyone had an opinion on PlayStation, Saturn, and Xbox, regardless of whether you cared or enjoyed video games. The manufacturers’ ability to transcend popular culture ensured they are some of the biggest gaming brands to this day.
However, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are less dominant as the years go by, and live streaming has played a significant part in crowning a new king. Regular consoles weren’t adapted to the latest types of games, which is why platforms such as Twitch and YouTube skyrocketed in popularity. People wanted to watch live streams or play whilst streaming, and both formats welcomed gamers with open arms. By 2016, Twitch had racked up about 292 billion total minutes watched and about 2.2 million unique streamers.
In 2021, its viewing figures hit another level as the company recorded 9.5 million active streamers. Its market share of total content watched is 90%, which shows just how integral streaming is to the modern gamer’s user experience.
Gaming isn’t the typical activity that was synonymous with the industry two decades ago. It’s bigger than ever and may reach new heights if the live streaming subcategory continues to grow at this pace.
NYC-based collective MICHELLE have announced their new album, AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS, which comes out January 28 via Transgressive. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the lead single ‘SYNCOPATE’. Check out its music video below and scroll down for the album’s cover artwork and tracklist.
“The song at its core is about desire,” MICHELLE said of the new track in a statement. “Communicating your desire can feel vulnerable, so we wanted to have some fun with that and show our funky and seductive side. It really feels like we’re hitting the street for the first time by putting this song out into the world.”
‘SYNCOPATE’ follows a string of singles by MICHELLE, including ‘SUNRISE’ (and its rework featuring Arlo Parks), ‘UNBOUND’, and ‘FYO’. Their debut LP, HEATWAVE, arrived in 2018.
AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS Cover Artwork:
AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS Tracklist:
Calicoco is the moniker of multi-instrumentalist Giana Caliolo, who grew up in Long Beach, New York. After moving to Rochester in 2008 to study photography, they became involved in the city’s local music scene and decided to settle there. Their first release as Calicoco, Needy, arrived in 2017 via Dadstache Records, followed by their introspective 2018 debut, Float. That album’s striking honesty is all the more brutal on Underneath, Calicoco’s sophomore full-length, which grapples with the weight of depression and anxiety while finding new avenues for their soul-baring songwriting. Caliolo, who relocated to Long Beach in 2019 but recorded the album in Rochester in January 2020 with friends Stephen Roessner and Phil Shaw, brings a raw, explosive physicality to the performances, which can be cathartic in their intensity – “Just give me a goddamn lobotomy,” they demand on highlight ‘Heal Me’ – or suffused in crushing waves of melancholy and guilt, like the one on ‘I Was the Devil’ that carries the album to its end. The hurt is almost too much to bear, but Caliolo invites you on a journey that makes it worth enduring: “I’ll hold your hand baby, please hold my hand/ I can’t wait to be there with you, underneath.”
We caught up with Calicoco for this edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about the origins of the project, the making of their new album Underneath, and more.
How do you look back on the time you spent in Rochester after you first moved there? Do those years occupy a similar space in your mind as a chapter in your life?
I feel like I’ve had different chapters in Rochester, starting off in college and doing this band Buckets that was with my college friends, and then meeting new people and being in this band called Secret Pizza, and then I was in a band called Pony Hand – I feel like they’ve all been chapters in my life. I didn’t really know that much about the Rochester community when I was in school, and I slowly started meeting people in the community and it just grew and grew and grew, and I finally felt like I was like in this really beautiful music community. It’s weird, it’s like I don’t want that chapter to close yet. I feel like I’m not quite done with Rochester, like I’m trying to figure out if I can get back here for a little while to sort of continue that journey. I have a lot of really amazing friends that I have played music with over the years and I still want to be making music with them.
What do you find beautiful about the community?
It’s just a really supportive community, and there seems to be a lot of people willing to help out. Like, when I was in college and I was first starting off in this band Buckets, I met this guy Tim Avery, who’s one of my good friends now. And he used to book at this venue called the Bug Jar, and that was sort of where if you had a band, you played. And he heard me play I think in a basement somewhere, and he was like, “Come play a show at the Bug Jar. I’ll get you in.” He made it super easy to take those next steps. And then when my college band ended because people moved away, I was sitting outside of the Bug Jar with my new friend Phil [Shaw], who I wound up being in a band with. He was like, “Don’t be sad, let’s make music! You’re done with Buckets, but this doesn’t mean that your music-making has to end.” And, and I was like, “Okay,” and we scheduled a day to practice we got my friend Kamara [Robideau] and Tim Avery, we got him to play guitar, and we just like started a band. And it sort of came out of something ending, which was really cool.
Did your approach to songwriting change when that shift happened and you started this project?
Yeah, I feel like the songwriting has changed over the years. With Secret Pizza, I wasn’t actually playing guitar, I was playing drums and singing, so that was a different sort of challenge. I was doing more lyric-writing and we were doing more jamming on the spot and trying to come up with stuff together as a band. And then, with this other band that I was in called Pony Hand with my friends Karrah Teague, Brandon Henahan, they wrote the music and I wrote the drum parts. And in between those bands happening was when I started writing solo stuff for Calicoco, and I don’t even think I had a band name yet. I started to realize that I had songwriting that I wanted to be doing that didn’t quite fit in with these other bands, and that’s sort of how the evolution happened, from being in all these different bands and then learning how to compose my own stuff. It was just different, and it was a lot more internal stuff, I think, that just didn’t work for those two bands.
In what way do you mean?
I think lyrically and sonically, just the fact that I was writing this stuff separately from the bands, and I just felt connected to the songs in a different way. I don’t know, I think there was just a little bit more internal, like, turmoil that maybe didn’t feel I was ready to share. I think I needed another creative outlet to get a bunch of other shit out that apparently I had, and I guess I felt like I wasn’t able to like get it out in that way, with the two bands that I was in.
What comes to mind when you think of your first releases as Calicoco? Are there any parts of yourself that you feel like you have outgrown, or that are still integral to the identity of the project?
I feel like I’ve seen a lot of growth going from Needy and Float to Underneath. I feel like I’ve found my sound a little bit more. And I still love those songs so much and I love playing them, but I definitely feel a little bit more removed from them. It was just such a different time in my life. Some of those songs I haven’t played in two, three years, but some of them I still feel really connected to. There’s definitely ones though that are harder to play now. Like, I don’t feel as much of a connection to them, which is okay. I think it’s okay if songs have a time and place for you, you know. I feel like I have a sound that has sort of continued from the beginning, but I definitely feel like it’s gotten more dense, like there’s a little bit more going on there. And I feel like I’ve let myself be a little bit more vulnerable with the actual songwriting.
I think that definitely comes through on Underneath. When you started thinking about the album, did you go into it knowing you wanted to do things differently?
I think I just wanted to go in there and really give it my all. The recording process was a little bit different for Underneath; musically I had more things ready and I had demos that I had mixed on my own, I knew a little bit more sonically where I wanted to be. I didn’t do demos and stuff for Float, and I kind of needed a lot more guidance and help – I couldn’t see as much before we actually recorded it. And I think, when I recorded with Stephen Roessner, who engineered and produced Underneath, we literally took some of my demos that I did at home in my bedroom and kept some of those stems and used them for the actual final product. So I think I learned a lot over the years, and I was starting to mix at home and produce at home, and I was just a little bit more prepared for what I was going to be going into when it came around to start recording Underneath.
I wanted to talk about ‘I Hate Living With Me’, because it’s a really striking and strong introduction to the album. Do you feel like it’s representative of the kind of headspace that you want to capture with the album as a whole?
Yeah, definitely. I wanted to start off the album with that theme, because I felt that that feeling throughout the time that I was writing the music. I was just having a really hard time living with myself, and just a lot of pain and a lot of depression and anxiety. And I felt like it was like an honest way to set the tone for how the rest of the album was going to be.
A lot of the album revolves around feeling a loss of self as well as a loss of control. I’m wondering how you went about externalizing those feelings, and whether that creative process shifted that internal balance at all.
Yeah, I think it was really important to be able to write during that time. It was super cathartic for me, and it was the outlet that I needed. I was struggling a lot at that time, and I was spending a lot of time alone in my room, just sitting with myself. And I needed that – I wasn’t doing a lot of other good things for myself, like I wasn’t in therapy yet, and I wasn’t trying to get support from friends and stuff. I felt lucky that I could put this energy into something that was positive, even though the music is really dark.
I didn’t sit with a lot of the music for a long time. I feel like all of a sudden Ι would write a song in like two days, it was kind of crazy. In the past, it would take a long time to like to like really get the song together and compose it and figure out all the parts, but so many of the songs that are on this album, like I vomited them out of me. [laughs] It was very present, and when I was recording with Steve, that was when I think I did a little bit more reflecting.
When it came to recording these songs and bringing them to life, were there any challenges or pleasant surprises that came along the way that shifted the energy again?
Yeah, I think, again, having my having my really good friends work on this album with me brought a lot of positive energy and change into how I was feeling about the music. Steve, my engineer, who also produced it with me, and also our friend Phil Shaw, was also a co-producer, being able to really share what was going on during these songs and feeling really comfortable talking about them, and also them feeling comfortable really giving me feedback, even if it was tough – I wouldn’t have been able to make this music with people I didn’t know. It was really important to have friends that knew me through all the shit that I was going through, and also being able to help me translate it in a positive way.
Can you give me an example of a song where you felt like it turned into something positive?
Yeah, ‘Heal Me’, we recorded that in the middle of the pandemic, at the same time as ‘I Hate Living With Me’. Those are the last two that we did. ‘Heal Me’ is also literally like, “Give me a goddamn lobotomy,” like I felt rough during that time. And I came here and I was just able to have fun with it. Steve was like, “We need bongos in the beginning of the song.” And coming in and being able to play drums on the record, that was another really fun thing for me. On demos I had MIDI drums, so I got to bring the songs to life by playing drums live. Something like that, taking this heavy tune and putting the literal work of playing the instrument, makes it feel that much better.
Another example I could think of is ‘I Was the Devil’. That was on an EP of mine, and it was just an acoustic version, and we recorded it live with synth sounds in the studio, which is a classroom setup at the University of Rochester. And I got so emotional during that recording session, like literally started crying, but also the music came out so beautiful. And I feel like that energy, just in general, shifted, just from being able to share that moment with Steve and Will [Bellows], the assistant engineer. Just so many moments of taking these demos and making them feel so much more alive.
Speaking of positive elements, I know we’ve been talking about this more from a musical angle, but one similarity I noticed between the writing on Float and this album is that it kind of catches these glimpses of beauty and really holds onto them. I was thinking of the song ‘Shade of Blue’, where you sing, ‘“My head was underwater/ I muted out the tune/ The fog was suffocating/ But it was beautiful.” For you, how does a moment like this fit into the big picture of the album?
I think moments like that – the one that sticks out for me the most in that sense of finding a beautiful picture is ‘Melancholy’, where I’m literally saying, “Make me something I can feel again.” Like, this internal fight with myself where I’m telling myself, “Why don’t you give up?” and then the other part is telling me, “You shut up!” You know, like, I can get better, and I can – what’s the word I’m looking for – I guess, like, prevail. I’ve gone through periods of my life, multiple times, where I’ve had really big ups and downs, and I think especially ‘Melancholy’, I needed that song to almost shed some light on the rest of the darkness. I think with ‘Shade of Blue’, too, there’s those little moments that feel important to shed light on the dark stuff.
With darkness being the prevailing mood on the album, it’s easy sometimes to just focus entirely on that. What do you think helps you pay attention to those moments of beauty?
I don’t know, I think just… [pauses]. I don’t know, just holding on to the fact that I’m really lucky to be here. I’m lucky to be alive, I’m lucky to have the support that I have with my family and with my friends. I literally have a tattoo on my arm, it says, “Progress is not linear.” And it’s just this constant reminder that even though there are ups and downs, that doesn’t mean that you’re not growing and changing and getting better and becoming a better version of yourself. I think having the support and the desire to keep going and the love that I have for music, all of those things are what makes it beautiful. And I really have to hold on to that and remind myself that sometimes, when I’m really low. Like, Giana, don’t look at the glass half-empty. There’s good things. There’s good things around too. And just having the opportunity to create is a beautiful thing in itself, and I feel really lucky to be able to do that.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Calicoco’s Underneath is out now via Dadstache Records.
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