Coma Girls releases a new single and announces the upcoming release of an album
Shoegaze/folk rock in Los Angeles Coma girls have officially announced the release of their new album, No umbrella for Star Flowerwhich will be released on September 2 via Baby Robot Records, and its first single and accompanying music video, “Knife,” a nostalgia-tinged excursion where one reevaluates the moments of their lives to make sense of where they are now and who they were.
“Knife” combines intimate lyrics with heavy production that layers distorted and blown elements. Similar to alt-rock staples such as Bright Eyes, Spoon, and Beck, “Knife” is a combination of strong lyrical ability, instrumentation, and engineering savvy.
The single focuses on an inner battle, or rather, a reflection on all the past battles fought within oneself over the years. Emerging from these internal wars a better person, but still with some battle scars and healing to do, Chris Spino, the creative force behind Coma Girls, shares his experience in a raw and unfiltered way.
The song’s music video features Spino meandering around Echo Park, specifically around the park’s lake, seemingly contemplating life and occasionally holding/admiring an engagement ring. Spino stays at the park late at night where he is suddenly attacked by a masked figure who, at the end of the video, is revealed to be Spino himself. the heavy but ambiguous symbolism adds more tension to the song. Speaking about the music video on social media, Spino notes how it is a combination of his journey to sobriety and a reflection on the time he spent homeless when he moved to the first time in Los Angeles.
Since Spino formed Coma Girls over a decade ago, the moniker has encompassed many iterations of being a solo project, a band, a rotating cast of studio musicians and now, a two-man collaboration between Spino and the producer Christian Paul Philippe who produced all of No umbrella for Star Flower.
Together the two have worked to produce a strong work that is varied in texture, sound and contains very personal themes, including those touching on addiction, love, depression and more.
“That record was my only escape, the only thing that kept me from going off the rails,” says Spino. “It’s a pandemic record, a relapse record, a breakup record and a recovery record. It was the thing that kept me sane.
Words: Patti Sanchez
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