Listening to "Love Hate Music Box" with Rainbow Kitten Surprise
On my trip to Nashville, listening to Rainbow Kitten Surprise's new album, and not getting hit by Morgan Wallen's chair
We couldn’t get over the Grammy in the kitchen.
Above the microwave, on a shelf collecting dust beside bandaids, uncooked spaghetti, and tums, sat an actual Grammy, apparently belonging to a producer who worked at the studio.
We arrived by shuttle to the lodge surrounded by open fields and a shallow thicket of trees. The last time I was on a property like this was probably my Catholic high school retreat. Natural light poured in through large open windows and skylight. I thought, this was the kind of place where I would love to disappear to be creative. It was also the type of place where we could all be murdered one by one Agatha Christie style.
We had time to explore the space after the “Love Hate Music Box” listening party. Framed records hung on the wall from Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Neil Diamond, Matchbox 20, and more. The sound engineer, who had been so kind to answer my many questions about what every button and dial does, said they had Kings of Leon record there last year.
When I spoke with the band’s manager, I gushed over how cool it was to be in such a high-end studio. The album sounded amazing, I said, but I couldn’t tell if it was the quality of the record as much as the quality of the sound system.
“Yeah,” he said. “The $50,000 speakers probably have something to do with that.”
When I wrote my newsletter about Rainbow Kitten Surprise’s latest singles a few weeks back, I had no idea I would be flown out to Nashville to hear their new album a month prior to its release.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise has been a favorite band of mine for some time, maybe longer than I could call myself a folk rock fan. I confess the first song I heard by them was “It’s Called: Freefall,” now considered the band’s most mainstream hit. But I promise I liked it before it was basic.
I’d never been to a listening party before. After this weekend, if I were to compose one of those influencer-style in-and-out lists, I would add “listening parties” to the top of my “in” column.
A little over 20 of us, maybe, including studio staff and the band’s team, sat around in an open studio space while lead singer Ela Melo and the band’s producer spoke about the process of creating the album, the recent collaboration with Kacey Musgraves, and more.
I’ve heard the phrase “Don’t meet your idols” several times, and not to my surprise, there was no case of that here. Ela carried a sweet demeanor into the room where she sat with us fans to share openly about the new album prior to listening along with us.
Artists are just people, and contrary to what many believe, they don’t always wish to be idolized. Sometimes, raising a person to such a high-pressure status is cruel. But it’s damn near impossible not to feel starstruck meeting an artist whose lyrics you’ve scribbled mindlessly in your notebook, lyrics you’ve cried to or screamed alone in the car with the windows down. And then to not only meet them, but hear them speak about the work you love is something entirely more magical.
I wish I could say I remember exact details from the listening event, from what Ela had to say about the album, or the album itself. But I was in awe from the moment I stood to take a picture with her and she complimented my red cowgirl boots. All I can promise the fans is that this record is classically Rainbow Kitten Surprise and also nothing like you’ve ever heard from them before.
After the event, I chatted some more with the team, all of whom had been incredibly kind and welcoming to all of us. I said goodbye to the manager, who told me to enjoy the rest of my weekend in Nashville, but to stay safe on Broadway. Always someone getting arrested on Broadway, he said.
Funny enough, some guy did that weekend for throwing a chair off of a bar roof.
What kind of country?
It’s still a bad time to say anything at all about Toby Keith, but I’m not sure I could forgive him, nor the rest of country, for what they did to The Chicks, no matter how much I love “Red Solo Cup.” I usually describe my taste as “Tyler Childers” country and not “Stick a boot up your ass” country, or the type of country by certain artists who hurl chairs off roofs.
When it comes to country for me, content matters more than sound. I love dancing to Luke Bryan’s “Country Girl (Shake It For Me), and my current top song is “Austin” by Dasha, undeniably echoing Y2K country pop badasses like Carrie Underwood. But for the most part, my preferred country songs lean more outlaw, more bluesy and bluegrass, like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, whose sound I’m thrilled to say has creeped back into the mainstream.
Seriously though, I can’t believe I missed Morgan Wallen getting arrested.
If you like folkier country
Releases from the Week of March 31
“Good Luck, Babe!” By Chappell Roan
“Loser 4 U” by Susannah Joffe, The Sewing Club
“Overtime” by RKS and Kacey Musgraves
“The Flood” by Allie Sandt
“Floating in the Night” by Judah & The Lion
“Please don’t fall in love with me” by Khalid
Older, Lizzy McAlpine album release
“Country Kid” by The Avett Brothers
“Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other,” by Orville Peck and Willie Nelson
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Nice piece, I liked the boot up the… to describe what you’re not so found of. Congrats on being included in such a cool event.