Kisskadee / Lilliana Villines

Kisskadee is the maximalist project of multi-instrumentalist Kasie Shahbaz. Her orchestral arrangements and strange time signatures break away from traditional songwriting limitations, keeping a lyrical, folklike sensibility. Elements of psychedelia and ambient chaos litter the records, while detailed imagery grounds the chaos with vivid detail. The album Black Hole Era uses the birth and death of the universe as a chronological allegory for childhood through adulthood. The record tracks our expanding circle of relationships as we age- first with mother, then with siblings, then with lovers. However, like the cosmos, as this circle expands, it is also dying. The record stands witness to the loss of childlike safety, and the lonely longing of adulthood.