Earlier this week, Montreal-based lofi quartet knitting – made up of Mischa Dempsey, Sarah Harris, Piper Curtis and Andy Mulcair – released “Spirit Gum,” the first single from their upcoming debut Some Kind of Heaven. Written over a period of several years when Dempsey was “navigating experiences of transition and coming into their non-binary identity,” the album addresses those experiences “while touching on many of the complications and growing pains of early adulthood.”
“Spirit Gum,” about the end of a domestic relationship, is a stunning slice of shoegaze that “dissects” the spatiality of emotion with what Mint, the group’s label, gorgeously describes as a “brooding intensity.” The bassline that drives the track absolutely fits this description, with equally ruminative vocals following close behind. The murky, shadowy instrumentals bring a gorgeous conviction to the narrative, which radiate with an aura of both acceptance and a lingering uncertainty: “at the foot of my bed / and at the back of my mind / I’m walking on eggshells / like these floors aren’t mine.” And yet, there is also a stark resignation to something fate, or if not resignation, then perhaps, an adhesion, to evoke the track’s title: “and we can blame it all on the stars / like they were never aligned from the start.” A radiant guitar solo closes the track, echoing and solidifying that aforementioned aura of conviction.
Some Kind of Heaven is out 9/6 via Mint Records.
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photo by Frank Climenhage
kid with a vinyl 