Kali Priya Flanagan’s chamber-rock project Superfan shares new album My Piledriver Heart via AD 93.
Superfan is the songwriting veil of Kali Priya Flanagan, the Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and producer. While initially imagined as a solo act, ambitious string arrangements crafted in collaboration with cellist Omeed Almassi have come to define Superfan’s noisy and magnetic pop soundscape.
New York singer-songwriter Superfan’s droney, cello-laden indie rock songs remind me of The Velvet Underground: they’re spectral and enveloping, and quietly literary. A gem of an artist. – The Fader
Superfan – Ode to Hum (I want it to rise)
MPDH marks Flanagan’s first release outside of the record deal he signed at age 14. The album finds Flanagan embracing a more expansive, experimental vision of indie rock – melding deeply tuned acoustic guitar, cello, and Eastern musical influences into what he calls his “Acousticello” sound. Recorded largely live with cellist Omeed Almassi and producer Hudson Pollock, the record explores heartbreak, independence, and hopeful melancholia. Kali says, “this time around, it was about being myself versus becoming myself. This album acknowledges the ebbs and flows in life and love, from a place of comfort; it’s about opening oneself up to the beauty of everyday life.” Kali does so through intimate performances that blur the lines between folk, chamber music, pop-rock ballads, and alternative rock. Last year, he released the singles ‘Apeiron (Fantasy Football)’ and ‘Miss W Jones;’ earlier this year, he released ‘Picture Of Return’ and ‘In The Gold Room.’
Superfan – ‘In the Gold Room’ (Live)
Following his acclaimed debut, ‘Tow Truck Jesus,’ Flanagan opened for The Strokes at Red Rocks and has since quietly become a fixture of New York’s DIY scene, performing alongside artists like Horsegirl, Knifeplay, and Quiet Light and recently playing support shows with King Woman and Victoryland. He is also a foundational member of the rising emo band Holidays in United States who released their critically acclaimed debut, How To Count To Five with NTS recordings, as well as consistent collaborator to Leftfield pop artists Operelly and Jordan Patterson.
Before Superfan, Flanagan found success during the pandemic under his first moniker, “KALI.” His initial releases garnered millions of streams and led to collaborations with seasoned high-profile producers and industry teams. Despite his budding career as an indie-pop star, Flanagan was dissatisfied with the conditions of his artistic output and community as he reached adulthood. His coming-of-age years in Los Angeles were marked by an ever-present new wave of pop music oblivion: “hits” made in five-hour sessions with strangers, a social life suffocated by others’ aspirations for fame, and an absent audience for live music that pushed past the prescriptions of recorded music. On MPDH, Kali says: “Though I feel an urge to write straightforward pop-rock ballads, my intention on MPDH was to push the boundaries of those genres, expressing the songs’ sentiments through experimentation and selective obscurity of sound.”
Superfan
My Piledriver Heart
Tracklist
- In the Gold Room
- Miss W Jones
- Jason Powers or The Underminer
- Keeping Your Smile
- Ode to Hum (I want it to rise)
- Sound of Turning
- Picture Of Return
- We Were Listening To A Different Time
- Apeiron (Fantasy Football)
- Joy
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