frigidkitty
frigidkitty | INDULGENCE | DESPERATE SPIRITS | DEC. 18TH, 2020
Bio:
Kool kats!
Welcome to the sleek world of frigidkitty.
Following a 40-second introduction that feels like you’re entering an upside-down Disney netherworld, Lexington, Kentucky’s Kim Conlee bares claws.
To scratch an itch? To draw blood?
The answer depends on the listener, because Conlee is the kind of sonic seducer that leaves you wondering if you are the victimizer or the victim.
Conlee’s vocals envelop like one of Stevie Nicks’ shawls, and while she is accompanied by a slew of talented friends throughout Indulgence, it is her own personal backing band of one (playing piano, guitar, flute, synthesizer, and other assorted electronics) that keep these songs in a personal space that feels intentional.
To hold you down? To lift you up?
Keep listening to find out. Listen again to reactivate doubt.
At times, like on the album’s single and video “World To Save,” Conlee occupies a singer-songwriter posture that could be considered just another trick in her bag if it weren’t for evocative, plaintive lyrics like, “Rain slowly falls as I stand waiting for the train. I haven’t spoken your name in a very, a very long time.”
It’s so damn easy to believe her.
When the artist describes her own work, she mentions Kate Bush, Mazzy Star, Judee Sill, “paranoid” trip-hop grooves, and a “sour minor-key psychedelic whorl.” Conlee isn’t a liar; again, it’s easy to believe her.
But the word “beguiling” gets thrown around, too, and when it comes to song, we like being fooled. If you are a cat person, you know you’ll never know what they’re thinking. You don’t want to know. But you’re enamored.
Other blunt, iconic, and iconoclastic musical forces such as Fiona Apple and Joanna Newsom could certainly call Conlee a compositional compatriot. Conlee describes both as influences, although one could just as easily call them contemporaries, as the songs on Indulgence were written over the course of fifteen years and produced over three.
Contributors to this long-but-worth-it creative process include Robby Cosenza (Vandaveer, Fanged Robot, Horse Feathers), John Ferguson (The Apples in Stereo, Big Fresh), Ben Phelan (The Apples in Stereo, Pontius CoPilot), Josh Wright (Bear Medicine), Chris Dennison (DHENI, Chico Fellini), Dave Farris (Big Fresh, Pezhed), and Trevor Tremaine (ATTEMPT, Hair Police). J. Tom Hnatow (Horse Feathers, The Mynabirds, These United States) brings the Alan Parsons-esque production.
“You’ve got your hooks in me too deep, It’s gone from a want now it’s a need,” Conlee sings in the penultimate Indulgence track “Hooks,” essentially evoking the listener’s state of mind by that point.
Indulgence, fifteen years in the making, is the debut album from frigidkitty. Look for it on Dec. 18th, 2020, preceded by the single and music video “World To Save.”
NEWS:
PRESS QUOTES:
“Taking on the witchy vibe of Stevie Nicks, the art pop of Kate Bush, and the fractured psychedelic folk of Mazzy Star, Conlee constructs her own world on Indulgence... a stirring and intimate introduction to her artistry.”
“ Wraps you up immediately and doesn’t let go... It’s not every day you get a treat like this.”
“Drippy guitar and a sensual beat with just a touch of twang layered in, Conlee lets her airy and poignant vocals come front and center.”
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SOCIALS:
Assets:
Kim Conlee of frigidkitty. Photo credit: Self-Portrait. Click for hi-res.
Kim Conlee of frigidkitty. Photo credit: Chad Stockfleth. Click for hi-res.
Indulgence album cover art. Photo: Chad Stockfleth. Album design and Layout: Wes Keeton Illustration: Robert Beatty. Click for hi-res.
“World To Save” single cover art. Click for hi-res.