Alas it's time to break away from the darkness for a bit to bring you the much needed sounds of the Highland Kites, a Los Angeles duo consisting of keyboardist, singer and guitarist Marissa Lamar, and drummer Neil Briggs who paired up back in 2014.

Highland Kites keeping things California cool!
Highland Kites’ confessional anti-folk could easily be misconstrued as indie rock. With their angular grooves, new wave leanings and sharp-witted lyrics, the LA-based twosome exude an off-the-cuff coolness that is effortlessly backed by a hard earned substance. The band is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Marissa Lamar who spent the majority of her 20’s very ill with Lyme disease. As the symptoms progressed, Lamar medication increased and she found herself stagnating as the years passed her by. She watched friends fall away and became resigned to her predicament; not entirely sure she was going to make it. Music emerged as her saving grace; giving her a reason to persevere and ultimately share her life-affirming strength as she overcame her illness. >>MORE<< [Image by Candice Boysen/Working Brilliantly-Facebook]

Let me swing this in the direction and tone of opposition, where our legislatures here in Texas like to keep their claws out for California, which I love even more because, even though we have good stuff here, hearing the sounds of artists like Highland Kites makes me wonder more about what California is like cause I've never been.

I always imagine California being full of kitschy motels like those in True Romance, which probably isn't that far off.

But since Highland Kites have come to be, they've released one EP and a full-length album which was produced by Raymond Richards who also produced Local Natives, Avid Dancer and BRAEVES to name several.

Get the new EP by Highland Kites!


Now Highland Kites are about to release their new EP Let Me Run on July 23, which is not only available to pre-order now but I also got a chance to check it out ahead of time.

From what I can figure, since Marissa started this project by herself, from the get go she's taken the bulk of the responsibility on each of these releases because, even as full as Let Me Run sounds -- with the addition of Richards on the gee-tar and bass -- it still continues to carry her signature sound... sort of.

[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2458952376 size=small bgcol=333333 linkcol=4ec5ec track=3216264246]

Their single This War Inside is one of two tracks of the five-track EP that's arranged and performed as cohesively and as rocking as it gets, compared to the other tracks.

The track is a perfect combination of the rawest and pop-rocking moments captured from their previous releases, but it also makes me miss that 'rawness' a bit more which only leaves Richards to be the target of my discontent.

That's right Raymond Richards, I'm typing at you!

That's just me though, but nonetheless, you should take notice of Briggs as he patterns out a distinct and unforgettable rhythm, grafting a tight pattern to evenly distribute the song's energy and take it to new places along with Richards' minimalist performance on the strings -- assuming that's him playing, to manage it all where all Marissa has to do is work within those perimeters.
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The second of those two is the title track Let Me Run, which is a better example of Highland Kites taking the next step as a band unit in both writing and performance; a song which has atmosphere with her keyboards and some good build where they all ascend to new heights.

That leaves the track Plastic Towns, a well-paced and cautious opener to the EP in that it doesn't go too far off of its determination to be a simple arrangement. But it's also one of those songs that has a melody Marissa likely couldn't get out of her head; assuming it strictly came from her and it wasn't a joint writing project until studio time.

It's incredibly catchy and unforgettable.

Image via Highland Kites
These aural scientists are here to bring you aural pleasure for your leisure! [Image via Highland Kites]
Then there's my favorite track

Freckles

 because it's a pretty 'skipping' song that doesn't need much variety because it's a perfect, boldly dramatic, whimsical and rustic. If you can imagine her vocals surrounded by the accompaniment of strings as if they were both contained in these velvety porcelain music boxes, every time she comes to the chorus, which is practically what the entire song is made of.

Finally the track Humiliated takes a dark turn but for the best, with the sound of the lightly pressed keys of an organ, the sensitive wailing of the guitar against tribal drums; a little gothy really.

Overall, I don't doubt that this is the direction Marissa sees for Highland Kites, where they become more of a band unit.

I would however, like to hear them attempt the rarely successful approach of her adding more of her twists and turns in the songwriting, similar to their past releases, and still work the band ethics into it where they're forced to challenge themselves even more where the music isn't so accessible.

That doesn't take away from how excited I am to hear Highland Kites and am even more excited for to see where they go from here.

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