AloneKitty began as a statement of reinvention for Toronto-based artist Michelle K after her life had been turned upside down. Introduced last year with a whirring self-titled debut, she continues to build her sonic universe on next month’s follow-up LP Sad Not Sad, which strikes a balance between early shoegaze releases and the no-wave noise-rock scene that had unfolded before it. “The epic expanse of these songs and sounds on this album are like a sonic ocean that both disorientates and also soothes,” shared the album’s mastering artist, Slowdive’s Simon Scott—a figure clearly qualified to speak to soothing disorientation. “It’s catchy but has vast depth. The moments of shoegazey noise and chaos is balanced perfectly with melody and immersive beauty.”
The first single arrives today in the form of the relentless “Stay the Same,” an angst-fueled wall of noise that feels like a version of the recent grungegaze scene that’s a little more rooted in both grunge and shoegaze’s history. “‘Stay the Same’ is connected to events around people that have used or manipulated me under the guise of being my friends during the process of getting this band off the ground,” Michelle shares of the track. “It turns out they had other serious issues as well. It’s written in a Thurston Moore tuning, which to me connects it to one of the bands that I love and have influenced me so much: Sonic Youth.”
She adds that the song’s music video further serves to position it within the context of the ’90s alt scene. “The video was filmed as a performance to get across the vibe of what this band is all about. We held nothing back. Shot at 24 frames per second to get that classic film look, with a backdrop of NYC, it’s echoing the many ’90s alternative videos that I remember.”
Check it out below, and pre-order Sad Not Sad here ahead of its October 24 release.
