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Having previously released under the other worldly pseudonym ‘Völuspa’, dream-pop artist Kirsten is ready to step out of her alter ego and present a magical craft that is herself entirely.
With her new album ‘Close Your Eyes’ set to drop in the fall with Swedish label Icons Creating Evil Art; the Brooklyn-based artist releases new synth infused offering ‘Life’s a Placebo’.
Spending her childhood in the San Francisco bay, surrounded by nature and absorbed in witchcraft lore, Kirsten uses her colourful sound palette to bring her lyrical themes of lucid dreams, forgotten nightmares, past mistakes and future possibilities to life.
If a soundtrack could define Kirsten’s story, then creditable names including Kate Bush, Brian Eno, Neil Young and Stevie Knicks would appear in the line-up. After discovering punk-rock through her high school sweetheart, Kirsten found herself infatuated with life; experiencing good music, love, and the world of drinking and drugs.
It was the songs, years, lovers, jobs, travels and journeys that resulted in a breakdown in NYC, where she found herself spectating her life once again. Realising that substances had been stealing the richest nutrients of her craft, she eventually put pen to paper and turned her experiences and emotions into songs.
With new single ‘Life’s a Placebo’, we see a nostalgic-saturated production. Soaked in a dreamy mix of ambient synths and Kirsten’s warming vocals, ‘Life’s a Placebo’ explores loss in its entirety. Discussing her new track, she tells us: “The song is sort of an epiphany, that life is a placebo. Life is as we see it. I could choose to grieve over this loss and wallow in self-pity, or I could move on and make shit happen.
The recording process was with Eric Hoegemeyer and his chihuahua, Hoover, in his Astoria Queens apartment. I wrote the song when I first got sober in 2014 and when I brought it to him last year, he added some sweet synth tones and effects that gave it more dynamic than the bratty punk version I had recorded on my phone.”
Having cut her teeth as an artist by performing with the likes of Spiritualized and Hot Chip over the last few years, Kirsten is no stranger to the live circuit. Discussing her most memorable performances, she tells us: “My favourite shows were at the New Collosus festival. I played with Davy on synth and I got to just sing the songs and it was so fun. It felt like the world was ending and we were getting closed in on with COVID fear, but it really brought us closer to other bands from all over the world. We were playing at venues the last day that bars were able to remain open.”
‘Life’s a Placebo’ is available now, Via Icons Creating Evil Art and the new album ‘Close Your Eyes’ set to drop 20th November 2020 with Icons Creating Evil Art