Hear the Hypnotic “Dreams” of NYC Singer, Cellist, and Blood Orange Collaborator Kelsey Lu
Born into a deeply religious family, Kelsey Lu ran away to music school at 18, where she studied cello. Now living in New York, where she’s part of Dev Hynes‘ orbit and signed to True Panther Sounds, she uses the instrument as the basis for her own music, looping and stretching its coppery tone into hypnotic drones. That’s all there is for the first four minutes of “Dreams,” where Lu gently builds from distant, piercing intensity to something heavy and mournful. Steady and granular, it evokes Stars of the Lid circa And Their Refinement of the Decline; not necessarily dictating an emotional state, but beckoning the listener somewhere intimate. Once she starts plucking the strings, the stakes set in, and Lu spends three minutes singing about losing control and indulging in reckless behavior in the hope of just catching some no-good boy’s eye. There’s a gothic anguish to her vocals, but the way Lu metes out her words feels like she’s mustering everything she’s got to try and take the reins back.
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