Flower of Life (2023 Taleen Kali album) – Queen City Sounds and Art

Taleen Kali closes out 2023 which saw the release of her new album Flower of Life in March with the video for “Vague Flesh.” The single was featured in the time-travel horror comedy Totally Killer and the style of the video and the hazy atmospheres of the song have a certain resonance with the 1980s setting of the film. But there isn’t an element of camp to the song itself. Its gauzy melodies and streams of sound that trail off into infinity set to a processional rhythm like a seamless blend of 60s girl group pop, Cocteau Twins and the use of vocals as an integral instrument and the ethereal and entrancing guitar interplay of Lush. The introspective lyrics seem to point to making a decisive choice for joy and connection in the chorus: “I chose love/it chose me/I can’t help myself.” The video features Kali walking the beach at sunset and the band performing in a room dimly lit in warm colors sealing the impression of embracing romance fully as a mutually consensual occurrence. Watch the video for “Vague Flesh” on YouTube and follow Taleen Kali at the links below.

Taleen Kali on TikTok

Taleen Kali on Facebook

Taleen Kali on Instagram

Taleen Kali took a fairly unorthodox path to being a performing musician. She grew up in Los Angeles and attended shows at DIY spots like The Smell and Pehrspace before moving to New York City for a few years where she lived near legendary DIY spaces like Death By Audio and 285 Kent and took in the one off house and the like. But she went to Chicago to attend art school and became immersed in the underground music scene there and regularly attended performances by the wide array of noise artists in and touring through the Windy City. Returning to Los Angeles in the early to mid-2010s Kali ended up forming her own band TÜLIPS which was a potent hybrid of punk and and shoegaze. But by summer 2017 Kali debuted her solo act. Across a handful of singles and EPs like 2018’s Soul Songs, Kali has revealed herself to be an imaginative songwriter and lyricist able to translate those concepts to a powerful live presentation with an undeniable mystique. The forthcoming, full-length debut album Flower of Life showcases the work of an artist capable of fusing styles to suit moods and to somehow be both ethereal and introspective and ferocious and gritty often within the same song. The style is very much her own and that of her collaborators but she has truly synthesized elements of garage rock, classic pop, punk, shoegaze and psychedelia to craft her own sound that suits well the heartfelt and heady subject matter of her lyrics.

Listen to our interview with Taleen Kali on Bandcamp where we discuss her roots in music and evolution as an artist. The aesthetics of her songwriting and her appreciation for the Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive, the title of one of the singles on Flower of Life. Connect with the artist at the links below and catch the band currently on tour in the US including at the Hi-Dive on Sunday, October 16, 2022 with Tuff Bluff, Galaxies and Princess Dewclaw.

taleenkali.com

Taleen Kali on Bandcamp

Taleen Kali on Instagram

Taleen Kali on Twitter

Taleen Kali on Facebook