If any up-and-coming indie musician deserves more attention than she's getting, it's Katie Von Schleicher. Maybe it's starting to happen. The New York singer last year released "Shitty Hits," a collection of savagely intimate songs she sings with an assurance that belies the vulnerability of her lyrics. Today she put out a new single, "Glad to Be Here," in conjunction with a string of new tour dates with Ought and Cold Specks this spring, and Mitski in the summer.
I profiled Von Schleicher last year for Paste's Best of What's Next feature (and also reviewed her 2015 mini-album "Bleaksploitation"). Not only is she a formidable musician, she's thoughtful and super smart, so much so that I've quoted her in a couple of stories I've written since, one for Paste on touring in the digital age, and another for The Wall Street Journal about a new networking app for musicians.
Anyway, "Glad to Be Here" opens with a narcotic barrage of drums and guitar that gives way to Von Schleicher slowly unspooling a plaintive, mesmerizing melody. The song, b/w another new tune called "Party Dawn," is due in physical form May 4 on Ba Da Bing Records. "On a break from touring this winter I went alone to Maryland, where I am originally from, and made these two songs, taking the gear I’ve very happily accrued since making my album 'Shitty Hits,'" she says in a press release. "I built a fire, I set up my gold drum kit, I saw a ton of stars and felt smushed by silence, and it was lonely, so I made these songs."
Her closest tour stop is April 7 at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass., but here's hoping she comes to western Mass. soon.