Album Review: Bachelor, Doomin' Sun

Pitchfork’s recent interview with Melina Duterte and Ellen Kempner of Bachelor feels more like a heart-warming montage in a buddy comedy film than a band bio. Before teaming up, the artists both defined distinct yet similar wavelengths of the indie-rock spectrum — Kempner as the lyrically-minded singer-guitarist of Palehound, and Duterte, the chill-pop wizard behind the band-of-one Jay Som. The duo hit it off as co-headliners at a show in 2017 over mutual fandom and a shared experience as young women in the music industry. That friendship takes center stage on Doomin’ Sun, their collaborative debut, and both artists are better for it.

Doomin’ Sun’s foundation of steady guitar-pop feels comfortably familiar. But the masterful flourishes that exist in its crevices transport listeners to cosmic highs and quiet expanses. In Bachelor’s world, soaring, emotional alt-rock (“Stay in the Car”) and spacey folk (“Went Out Without You”) go hand in hand. Sixties pop and shoegaze collide on “Spin Out” beneath lush orchestration and triumphal distortion. On “Aurora,” Duterte’s knack for tape-loops and ambient synths provide a textured backdrop for Kempner to weave intricate, rhythmic poetry: “Look up, it's Aurora in the sky / Buzzing, jerking. he sees through her eye / Slicing up my homesick reverie / From way up there, the treetops are just pilling in the sheets.” Duterte and Kempner each produce great music on their own. But Doomin’ Sun has the duo joining a shortlist of team-ups, like El P and Killer Mike and the ladies in Boy Genius, collaborators who you can’t imagine having ever been apart.

Check out the video for “Back Of My Hand” and Doomin’ Sun on Bandcamp below.