For better or worse, Greta Kline (aka Frankie Cosmos)
will possibly forever be introduced as the artist with 40 self-released
Bandcamp albums; and at the tender age of only 19, she has already released
more songs than many musicians do in a lifetime. Most of these collections
display all the common trademarks of bedroom recordings (adorable truths, the
recurrent buzz of background noise, and distant instruments) but they catalogue
a maturing artist over time. Under the pseudonym Frankie Cosmos (which
apparently pays homage to both Frank O’Hara and her boyfriend Aaron Maine of
Porches), her output is jubilant and prolific in nature with the short indie
pop songs being the perfect medium for expressing her post-adolescent
discontent.
The New York based recorder has recently finished and released (on the 4th April) her first studio album – Zentropy. The introduction of her own three piece band gives the record a cleaner edge and more professional sound to it; but with this, it seems impossible for old fans not to still like it, and it’s more than likely she’ll attract a few new ones. If you want to know what the LP sounds like, try and piece together wheedling guitars, a cheeky sense of humour, some infectious teenage enthusiasm and a developing musical virtuoso. Tasters from the album include ‘Owen’ and ‘Birthday Song’ which explore grounded sadness and worry respectively. Both songs are a door into the candidly emotional world that Kline explores. This dream-like world is perfectly lyricised within her sweet voice, which creatively competes with the shifting tempos and melodic bass lines.
Approach the Frankie Cosmos catalogue, particularly Zentropy with care, because one taste
and you could be locking yourself away in a room to listen to all 40 of those
releases.
For fans of // Porches,
Quarterbacks and Whatever, Dad