Today, Siichaq — the project of the Atlanta-based musician Kennie Mason — independently shares her new album, The Righteous Sword, which she teased earlier this week with the final single and video for “Tight Rope.” Releasing music under her inuit name (Siichaq), Mason investigates a modern, industrialized notion of Southern gothic via artfully crafted, overdriven and dark indie rock. Listen to  The Righteous Sword here. 

Of the record, Siichaq says, “This album challenged me. Going into the studio, I had only bits and pieces of songs and no real plan. There were moments of skepticism and fear, and there were moments of overwhelming excitement. I could’ve never anticipated how much I would come to love this record, when I first showed up, completely unprepared, to start tracking it. Each song takes little details from all of the genres I love and mashes them together, and it builds a chaotic world which is very much reflective of my taste and personality. And anyway, who doesn’t love a little chaos? 
 

Watch the video for Tightrope here

On The Righteous Sword, Siichaq gets more industrial, brooding, and electronic than ever before; see the most recent single  “Cattle Driver.” Heavy guitars and droning bass lie over a programmed double-kick drum, finding itself somewhere between doom metal, dark club music, and the introspective indie rock found across her debut 2024 album My Dog Ate My Patriotism.  “Doing Damage,” which premiered earlier this summer on KEXP’s Sounds of Survivance, is scraping shoegaze a la My Bloody Valentine’s Isn’t Anything, a raw dispatch from a dissociative, despondent spirit grasping for their own humanity. Guitar distortion pummels against Mason’s soft but sure voice; a frank and vulnerable embodiment of what it’s like when you’re not doing too well. 

Awash in blown-out despondence and frayed nerves, Mason’s recent record CATCHER is a ruggedly honest set that calls upon a flourishing musical community — including members of Lunar Vacation, The Slaps, and Faye Webster’s band — to help bring its bleakly beautiful world to life. Across the record you get a vastness of sound: “Project 3” creates a grungy, deep, droning, murky shoegaze/slacker rock world that proves to be perfect for introducing such an introspective, autobiographical album in CATCHER. Lush strings by Annie Leeth soar on “Life’s A Mess,” while “Horse & The Heretic” provides an interlude of noise rock, which sits comfortably next to golden two-tone harmonies sung about the pleasures of being alone on “A Couple Bad People.” Groovy pop melodies on  “Cannibal” compliment the bare bones banjo on “World Equestrian Center.” 

Mason grew up in North Florida as the only native person, or even person of color, to note. She always found herself making friends with older folks; her soul much older than birthdays would suggest. On the forthcoming album The Righteous Sword, Siichaq deepens and expands upon the themes of identity, introspection, and critical societal examination she uncovered on CATCHER.