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Jun 01, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Alex LaLibertie

Kate Bollinger and Paul Cherry are both rising singer/songwriters in their own lanes of indie pop. Last year, both artists returned with new releases, with Bollinger drawing inspiration from ‘60s and ‘70s pop songwriters on her latest EP, Look at it in the Light, and Cherry conjuring a groovy fusion of jazz and indie pop on his new album, Back to the Music. As the pair were creating their latest projects, they simultaneously linked up in LA at Honeymoon Suite Studios. After meeting at the studio, the pair decamped to producer Jared Solomon’s house where they quickly wrote a pair of new tracks for a new project entitled Los Angeles Story.

Los Angeles Story is due out tomorrow, June 2nd via Born Losers Records, but today the duo are giving an early listen to one of the two tracks, “Playroom,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Playroom” is a breezy fusion of the pair’s sounds, knitting subtle grooves, lush melodies, and jazzy instrumentation together with joyous ease. Though the track forgoes the typical pop song structure, the pair’s easy chemistry thrives without a bright pop chorus. Bollinger’s airy vocal melodies dart back and forth, mirrored by Cherry’s guitar work and shadowy vocals, crafting a delicate dance of off-kilter melodicism. The results are charming and unassuming, but also deliver plenty of intoxicating silken summer vibes.

Cherry says of Los Angeles Story, “I met Kate when she first moved to LA at Honeymoon Suite Studios, on the night she was tracking the vocals for the Drugdealer song ‘Pictures of You.’ She briefly mentioned we should write together and a few months later we ended up at Jared Solomon’s house where we wrote ‘OBO,’ which came together in only about 2-3 hours. The song was completed so quickly and it sounded so done that we were all riding a high and decided to write another one the next week, which ended up becoming ‘Playroom,’ which also came together in only a few hours. It was so refreshing working with her and Jared, and feeling like the three of us were all on the exact same page creatively that week was magic. I attribute a lot of that quickness to Jared’s amazing proficiency as a producer and everyone’s flexibility in the studio.

The songs are whimsical, but also about real things, Kate was looking to buy a car the day we met at Jared’s and she ended up buying the exact car she sings about, the Volkswagen Cabriolet (in blue, not red). I didn’t want these songs to stay in hiding for years in a folder somewhere, and although I don’t sing lead on them, I felt compelled to release them because I am so proud of these two little songs! No choruses needed, they just play themselves through. Nothing more than a cute moment in Los Angeles, we decided to name the project ‘Los Angeles Story’.”

Check out the song below. Los Angeles Story is due out June 2nd via Born Losers Records.