Vessel
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New York-native
songwriter Greta Kline has shared a bounty of her innermost thoughts and
experiences via the massive number of songs she has released since 2011. Like
many of her peers, Kline’s prolific output was initially born from the ease of
bedroom recording and self-releasing offered by digital technology and the internet.
But, as she’s grown as a writer and performer, devising more complex albums and
playing to larger audiences, Kline has begun to make her mark on modern
independent music. Her newest record, Vessel, is the 52nd release from
Kline and the third studio album by her indie pop outfit Frankie Cosmos. On it,
Kline explores all of the changes that have come in her life as a result of the
music she has shared with the world, as well as the parts of her life that have
remained irrevocable.
Frankie Cosmos has taken
several different shapes since their first full-band album, 2014’s Zentropy,
erupted in New York’s DIY music scene. For Vessel the band’s lineup
comprises multi-instrumentalists David Maine, Lauren Martin, Luke Pyenson, and
Kline. The album’s 18 tracks employ a range of instrumentations and recording
methods not found on the band’s prior albums, while maintaining the succinctly
sincere nature of Kline’s songwriting. The album’s opening track, “Caramelize,”
serves as the thematic overture for Vessel, alluding to topics like
dependency, growth, and love, which reemerge throughout the record. Although
many of the scenarios and personalities written about on Vessel are
familiar territory for Frankie Cosmos, Kline brings a freshly nuanced point of
view, and a desire to constantly question the latent meaning of her
experiences. Kline’s dissonant lyrics pair with the band’s driving, jangly
grooves to create striking moments of musical chemistry.
Vessel’s 34-minute run time is exactly double the
length of Frankie Cosmos’ breakout record, Zentropy, and it is an
enormous leap forward. Typically, albums by artists at a similar stage in their
careers are written with the weight of knowing that someone is on the other end
listening. Yet, despite being fully aware of their ever-growing audience, Kline
and band have written Vessel with a clarity not muddled by the fear of
anyone’s expectations. Vessel’s unique
sensibility, esoteric narratives, and reveling energy place it comfortably in
Kline’s ongoing musical auto-biography.
Vessel was recorded in Binghamton, New
York with Hunter Davidsohn, the producer and engineer who helped craft Zentropy
and Next Thing, and at
Gravesend Recordings in Brooklyn with Carlos Hernandez and Julian Fader.
It features contributions from Alex Bailey (formerly of Warehouse, and now part
of the live configuration of Frankie Cosmos), Vishal Narang (of Airhead DC),
and singer/songwriter Anna McClellan, all of whom have played on bills with
Frankie Cosmos and collaborated on-stage with the band. The final mixes were
done by Davidsohn, and the album was mastered by Josh Bonati.
