Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has worked on solo projects before — like her Oscar-nominated “The Moon Song,” which she co-wrote with Spike Jonze for his film Her, or her previous soundtrack work on Where the Wild Things Are — but she has yet to release an entire LP under her name. Finally, the artist born Karen Lee Orzolek has announced Crush Songs, which looks to present a more personal style of songwriting than the Yeahs’ latest techno-pop albums, judging by the precious cover art above. According to O, the songs were written and recorded around 2006 when she was 27 years old and “crushed a lot.” Our friend S-Type can relate, Karen.
Adding to this NYC blast from the past, Crush Songs will be released via Strokes singer Julian Casablancas’ label, Cult Records. Not that long ago, bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, and Liars were kids playing gigs in the Lower East Side, and music blogs were few and far between. Now all of these bands have grown up, the drug use has gone down considerably, and most of them are married. The wild card, however, is Interpol’s pale-skinned former bassist Carlos D, who was known to be a respectable club DJ when not vamping Peter Hook riffs on his black Jazz bass. Could Carlos D be plotting out a jacking techno record for Casablancas’ label? The basslines on that thing would be slinky as hell. Until we hear more, Karen O’s Crush Songs will be released on September 9, and any Moldy Peaches collaborations have yet to be confirmed.
• Karen O: http://www.karenomusic.com
• Cult: http://www.cultrecords.com
More about: Julian Casablancas, Karen O
