Bachelor—the collaborative project of Palehound’s Ellen Kempner and Jay Som’s Melina Duterte—release their highly-anticipated debut album, Doomin’ Sun, via Polyvinyl Record Co., Lucky Number and Milk! Records today! With an ominous eye to extreme fandom, the duo has also released their new “Back Of My Hand” video, directed by Ellen Kempner.
The band shares: “For the “Back Of My Hand” video, we wanted more than anything to make something fun given the limited time and options available due to the current pandemic. Ultimately deciding to put Ellen in the director’s chair as well as film at her home with a skeleton crew. Our final single is about the dark side of fandom and we wanted to exaggerate that as much as possible in our video concept. When it came to choosing an artist to obsess over we quickly chose Harry Styles as we both are truly big fans!”
To celebrate the album release they have also announced Doomin’ Sun Fest, a massive, free/donation-based livestream festival + telethon to benefit and uplift Seeding Sovereignty. The festival will take place on June 10 starting at 6pm ET., and features the likes of Tegan & Sara, Courtney Barnett, Benjamin Gibbard, Sylvan Esso, Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief), Jeff Tweedy, Japanese Breakfast, Julien Baker, Tank And The Bangas and more.
Bachelor—the collaborative project of Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner—will release its debut album Doomin’ Sun on May 28th via Polyvinyl Record Co. (North America), Lucky Number (ROW) and Milk! Records (AUS/NZ). To celebrate the album release they have also announced Doomin’ Sun Fest, a massive livestream festival / telethon to benefit and uplift Seeding Sovereignty. The festival will take place on June 10 starting at 6pm ET., and will be followed by a virtual afterparty inside the 3D social game Hotel Hideaway.
Created as a chance to gather for “Community, Compassion, Climate, and Celebration,” Doomin’ Sun Fest will be FREE to attend, but donations to Seeding Sovereignty will be highly encouraged. The organization is an Indigenous-led collective working to radicalize and disrupt colonized spaces through land, body, and food sovereignty work, community building, and cultural preservation.
Melina & Ellen will live-host Doomin’ Sun Fest, which will culminate in the first ever Bachelor concert, shot and directed by Haoyan Of America with designer Richie Brown, powered by HIFI Labs. “Basically we just wanna have fun celebrating our album release, raise funds for Seeding Sovereignty, and get people excited about donating and opening their hearts to themes of the fest – the “4 C’s” as we call them – that are driving this endeavor,” note Ellen and Melina.
Featuring:
Adeline
Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief
Alexis from Sleigh Bells w/ Young Women Who Crush
Alynda Segarra (Hurray For The Riff Raff)
Andy Shauf
Anjimile
Bartees Strange
Beach Bunny
Becca Mancari
Benjamin Gibbard
Black Belt Eagle Scout
Boy Scouts
Brijean
Christelle Bofale
Claud
Courtney Barnett
Faye Webster
Fime
Frankie Cosmos
Hand Habits
Japanese Breakfast
Jeff Rosenstock
Jeff Tweedy
Jessi Frick of Father Daughter Records
Jose James + Taali
Julia Jacklin
Julien Baker
Kero Kero Bonito
KR from Decolonize UnConference
Lala Lala
Long Beard
Lucy Dacus
Luna Li
Madeline Kenney
Madison McFerrin
Mannequin Pussy
Manu Grace
MICHELLE
Miloe
Pendant
Quinn Christopherson
Rozzi
Sasami
Sen Morimoto
Shamir
Soccer Mommy
Soft Glas
Sylvan Esso
Tagalikha
Tank & the Bangas
Tasha
Tegan and Sara
Thao
Tune-Yards
Vagabon
Laetitia Tamko and Courtney Barnett team up for a cover of Karen Dalton’s “Reason to Believe.”
“I recently discovered the Karen Dalton version of ‘Reason To Believe’ for the first time. I became obsessed and so a few days after discovering it, I was encouraged to record a cover of it in my garage,” said Vagabon’s Lætitia Tamko. “The decision to have Courtney sing it with me came after we performed it together live at the Palace Theatre in Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day 2020, a month before lockdown. It was fresh in our brains then so not long after the show, CB came over and we recorded her parts. Oliver Hill plays slide guitar on it.”
Courtney Barnett added “I’m a huge fan of Vagabon and Karen Dalton so this was a dream. They both have a voice that absolutely knocks the wind out of me. I really admire Laetitia and am constantly inspired by her songwriting, production, and our sporadic FaceTime chats.”
Tamko has been releasing alternate versions of songs from her self-titled album, and her song “Home Soon” was featured in the film Antebellum.
Spin Magazine