Doomin' Sun

Bachelor, the debut project of close friends Jay Som (Melinda Duterte) and Palehound (Ellen Kempner), began in early 2020 when the duo decided to pack up their recording equipment and rent a house in Topanga, California. The impromptu setup allowed the singer-songwriters to freely explore and learn from each other’s songwriting, resulting in a collection of playful, slightly off-kilter indie rock where they cope with anxieties both personal and apocalyptic. Whether they’re trying to kick their mindless phone-scrolling habit (“Sick of Spiraling”) or worrying about their fate due to global warming (“Doomin’ Sun”), the duo tell their stories with biting wit as they seamlessly transition from country rock to acoustic folk, respectively. But it’s not all doom and gloom, like on the Pixies-inspired fuzz rocker “Stay in the Car,” on which Kempner lives vicariously through a bombshell she stumbled upon, and was enchanted by, outside a supermarket parking lot.