K. Flay
When facing the daily
maelstrom of concerns, complaints, and calamities in the news, in conversation,
and in social media posts, a smile signals real rebellion. Eschewing
self-centered woe and melancholy-for-the-sake-of-melancholy, happiness becomes
the brashest, boldest, and ballsiest move-and the sought-after answer.
Recognizing this truth, two-time GRAMMY®
Award-nominated singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer K.Flay
sticks to a powerful, passionate, and positive mission statement on her third
full-length album, SOLUTIONS [Night
Street/Interscope Records].
Catalyzed by a three-year
whirlwind of world touring and prolific output, she translates the simple
pleasures into ten genre-blurring bangers...
"When I got home from tour, I was in a dark
place," she admits. "Eventually, I made a decision to focus on the things that actually make me happy: walking around
my neighborhood, drawing in notebooks with markers, talking to my mom on the
phone. I thought, 'What did I do as a kid
to be happy?' As a child, you don't have access to alcohol, drugs, sex,
caffeine. I looked back, when I had fun just by making music. I remembered the
first time I wrote a song, burned a CD, and played it in my car. It's the
closest thing I've ever had to a religious experience. I reconnected with that
spirit and stopped taking shit so seriously."
She certainly earned the
right to do so...
As the culmination of a
diligent decade-long grind marked by a series of independent EPs and shows, the
songstress carved up her own lane in the mainstream with major label debut Every Where Is Some Where. It garnered
two nods at the 2018 GRAMMY® Awards
in the categories of "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical" and "Best Rock
Song" for "Blood in the Cut." The latter generated 30 million-plus Spotify
streams as "High Enough" surpassed the 20-million mark and "Giver" clocked 12
million and counting. In addition to praise from Billboard, Nylon, The Fader, and more, she landed syncs
and soundtrack placements for Tomb Raider,
xXx: Return of Xander Cage, NBA 2K, Fifa, This is the End,
and more. Not to mention, everyone from legendary Rage Against the Machine and
Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello and Linkin Park co-frontman Mike Shinoda to
FIDLAR sought her out for collaborations. She also canvased the globe
supporting Imagine Dragons.
In the Summer of 2018, she
re-teamed with frequent collaborators Tommy English [Ariana Grande, Kacey
Musgraves, Thirty Seconds to Mars] and JT Daly [Mutemath], as well as Joel
Little and CJ Baran. Recording in Los Angeles and Nashville, she widened the
scope of her signature style, incorporating a variety of analog synths along
with live bass and guitar, bobbing and weaving between pop, rock, hip-hop, and
electronic moods.
"The title SOLUTIONS came to me really early in the
process," she goes on. "The solution to almost every problem is usually really
simple. For me, it's so basic: staying connected to the people I love, taking
care of myself the way I'd want my friends to take care of themselves, and
doing things I know are going to make me happy - not what social media
or strangers or society tells me. So many of my past records were about
problems. Right now I'm in a place where I'm looking for some light. Balance is
important. Life doesn't have to be chaotic in order to be meaningful."
Produced by English, the
first single "Bad Vibes" slips clever quips-"You're
the sequel that sucks"-between a siren swell of synths, thick percussion,
and an unshakable and undeniable chant, "You
give me bad vibes..."
"My best friend recently
had a kid, and I was like, 'I don't want
this baby to grow up around sad people'," she recalls. "I saw this stupid
prison-style tattoo that said, 'Born
dead'. I thought, 'Fuck you, man. I
hate this tattoo'. With everything going on in the world right now, I
wanted to make some positive music. The
goal isn't to be happy every minute; it's just to move away from negative
energy. Sonically, it's the perfect introduction to the record. Fuck being sad
all the time!"
Propelled by resounding
piano and nimble rhymes, "Good News" leaps over glitchy beats and into a
reminder that we can be "our own best
friend." Something of a spiritual
successor to "Blood in the Cut," the frosty and fiery anthem "Ice Cream" serves
up "a breakup song that isn't too heavy." On the other end of the spectrum, the
uber-personal "Sister" delivers a heartfelt message of sisterhood as she
claims, "I wanna be your sister till the
end."
"My sister and brother
aren't biologically related to me, and I always wanted them to be my 'real siblings'," she goes on. "It was
important for me to dedicate this song to them. On a larger level, I believe sisterhood
should be available to everybody, regardless of gender. Sisterhood is about creating
your own family."
In the end, K.Flay makes
happiness cool again...
"When you listen to this, I hope you walk away feeling like it's okay to
temper a little positivity in your life," she leaves off. "There's so much out
there we can't control. As I mature, I've been able to realize that. Do what
makes you happy. Right now, music makes me really happy."