Krost crafts a melancholic dance anthem on the upbeat “On the Vine”
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In a perfect world, more people would know about Anaheim-based singer-songwriter Krost (Kristen Lee).
A quick browse through her Bandcamp and YouTube channels reveal snippets of a singer who has a ridiculously keen ear for songwriting and melancholic melodies. Though she’s already proven that she can cover artists ranging from pop to electronic to indie rock, Lee and her lively guitar loops transform each cover into something uniquely her own. Soon, all of that genre-melding practice led her to the release of her first album, Doldrums, back in 2017.
Doldrums‘s mellow atmosphere, which combined Lee’s haunting Julien Baker-like vocals with light electronic production, is the kind of album that indie record labels should be paying attention to. Unlike most first releases that I’ve heard, Doldrums portrayed Lee as a confident DIY musician who’s undeniably comfortable with her sound. It’s a shame that the album so strangely flew under the radar–it should’ve blown up in the way that Baker’s Sprained Ankle did back in the day. But that hasn’t stopped Lee. Next month, she plans to return with Feel Alive EP, a project that discovers “what it means to feel alive, depicting self-reflection as a necessary but often uncomfortable aspect of self-care”.
“On the Vine,” the first single off of the EP, signals a change in Krost’s sound. Landing somewhere in the realm of indie-pop in lieu of what she’s done in the past, “On the Vine” finds Lee switching out some of her omnipresent guitar pedals for minimalist beats that sound heavily inspired by the xx. “I don’t really want to die / But if I do / I hope it’s a great big surprise,” she repeats, creating a mantra that is wrapped up in an impending sense of doom. Dancey, glimmering, and icy, “On the Vine” absolves her conflicting feelings about a dying relationship and channels it through an upbeat song. We’re excited to see what comes next.
Feel Alive EP will be released in November.
Artist pages: Bandcamp | YouTube
Li-Wei Chu is the chief editor of From the Intercom. When he’s not editing drafts and searching for new artists to cover for the website, he loves watching cult films, cooking, and listening to his ever-growing collection of vinyl records. You can follow him on LetterBoxd and make fun of his taste in movies here!