Kate Bollinger Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind LP

On Songs From a Thousand Frames of Mind, the kaleidoscopic full-length debut from Kate Bollinger, entire worlds lie in the small details. "When I'm recording a song," the Charlottesville-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter observes, "my indication of whether it's worth pursuing is if I'm seeing a movie in my head to go along with it." Blending classic pop songcraft with scrappy punk instincts, Bollinger casts a collage-like vision that's instantly memorable and uniquely mystifying. Ranging from homespun folk songs to warmly rendered psychedelic rock-like early Rolling Stones as fronted by Hope Sandoval-the resulting album can feel like flipping through your coolest friend's record collection, finding a new favorite song with each discovery.

Several highlights from the record were co-written with Spacebomb Records mastermind Matthew E. White, such as the jangle-pop gem "Any Day Now" and the theatrical "I See It Now." After months of writing in Richmond and Los Angeles, Bollinger traveled to upstate New York to record with producer Sam Evian (Big Thief, Blonde Redhead, Cass McCombs), with whom she developed a similar kinship. Alongside her longtime friend and drummer Jacob Grissom, she formed a group of tight-knit collaborators able to match her wide-ranging inspiration, spanning from '60s icons like Françoise Hardy and the Velvet Underground to '90s touchpoints like No Doubt and Pavement. "In some way, this album feels like my musical debut. I feel that I've finally been able to express all sides of myself in one record."

In the baroque swirl of opener "What's This About (La La La La)," Bollinger and her band conjure a sense of cartoonish whimsy that places her in league with the mystical pop greats of the Elephant 6 Collective, a scene whose idiosyncratic spin on the classic rock era helped inform the patchwork sprawl of her record. The cumulative effect reveals the vast range of Bollinger's vision. The haunting "Sweet Devil" smolders like a jazz standard as interpreted by Feist at her smokiest and most intimate; the dramatic outro of "I See It Now" has a romping energy that feels suited for a climactic showdown at a saloon; the breezily psychedelic "Postcard from a Cloud" plays like a dreamworld collaboration between Teenage Fanclub and Broadcast, finding the warm, melodic center of their Venn Diagram.

The latest single from Kate Bollinger's forthcoming debut album, Songs From a Thousand Frames of Mind, is a sun-splashed summer bop. 'What's This About (La La La La)' is sticky, sweet and far too short—but its two-minute runtime will wedge its way into you and stay for a while.