KXSC Fest Presents: Chelsea Wolfe

Chelsea Wolfe’s music can only be described in contradictions: It is dark yet radiant, soothing yet intense, and classic yet modern.

 In her most recent release Unknown Rooms: A Collection Of Acoustic Songs, Wolfe sings haunting lyrics, not over her ensemble of string instruments, but through the music as a part of it. Unknown Rooms wasmeant to be a digression from her previous album Apokalypsis, which opens with a 25 second track of growling, hissing, and finally an earsplitting, guttural scream. However, Pitchfork describes the album as capturing and sustaining “free-floating fear and menace”.

At the age of nine, Wolfe would sneak into her father’s studio to record piano covers, The NeverEnding Story theme song being a favorite, and originals. However, it was not until 2009 when she traveled abroad to perform with a nomadic performance group that she gained the confidence to share he work. She returned from this three month experience with a new motivation, and began carrying around an 8-track to record whenever inspiration struck, resulting in her 2010 LP The Grime & The Glow.

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-Paige Schwimer, Publications, Nothing In Particular