Blums has arrived. Kelsea Feder’s long-anticipated New York City project has signed to Brooklyn-based indie Take Care Records, and debut single “Sinking/Soaring” is out today alongside an official music video directed by Ava Burka and Marianna Kamiaklioyis. It’s a striking first statement: mellow vibraphone, delicate keys, and a melodic spiral that builds into something genuinely unsettling and beautiful at once.
The song draws directly from Feder’s time as a hostess at a jazz club, and the sonic fingerprints are all over it. Her friend and roommate Sasha Berliner, a jazz vibraphonist, plays on the track and contributed the chord that unlocked the second and third choruses. Producer Kirk Palsma pushed the arrangement further, having Feder isolate syllables and sing them in different melodies to create what she calls a “freaky genius” bridge effect. Feder describes the song’s emotional core plainly: “The song comes from a place of being trapped in the head, self-obsessed, miserable, tormented by loneliness.”
The video matches that duality, moving between dilapidated houses and glamorous performances to visualize the push and pull at the heart of the track. It’s a fully realized debut, the kind that signals a creative vision already well-developed before the first note goes public. Feder has spent years building to this, playing Bushwick’s show circuit in a power-pop band, singing backup on tour, and working through a slow, deliberate recording process with Palsma. The debut album is coming within the year.
Blums has already built real traction in New York’s indie scene, playing alongside May Rio, Bella Litsa, Nyxy Nyx, and Shallowhalo, and debuting new material last week at Rachel Lime’s album release show at Union Pool in Brooklyn. More shows are coming.