The FEVER Issue: MICHELLE
by arthur machado
Photo by Jimmy Fontaine
Five years ago, you could not open a streaming service without being overwhelmed by heaps of bedroom musicians. Artists recorded songs straight from iPhones. Aspiring producers exchanged GarageBand for Ableton and Logic. Serum synths and ‘80s inspired drum pads were abundant. Cornerstones of the current alternative charts sparked from lo-fi bedroom pop and, five years later, the acts that dominated this scene have hit the road running. With an approach to songwriting that contains all the sensibilities present in DIY music, we are now in the era of MICHELLE.
MICHELLE is a New York collective composed of singers Sofia D’Angelo, Layla Ku, Jamee Lockhard and Emma Lee. They are accompanied by producer duo Charlie Kilgore and Julian Kaufman. The band has had a polished sound since their 2018 debut, HEATWAVE, characterized by R&B inspired harmonies, synthpop lead melodies and cozy lo-fi production.
The lyrical themes in MICHELLE’s songs are highly personal and undeniably contemporary. In the tracks, the vocalists sing about ephemeral digital-age relationships and their connection to the fast-paced New Yorker lifestyle. Each song is not only a love letter to their home, but also a glimpse into how their relationship with their hometown has changed. As the collective wraps up their first headlining international tour, the Lavender Tour, these changes are as noticeable as ever.
“With that traveling comes a new perspective on New York and home, and sometimes new perspectives on the memories that you had there,” D’Angelo says. “I think that kind of shift, or this new sort of color, that's come to New York from these new experiences that we've had affects the music in a net positive way.”
The Lavender Tour encompasses a whopping 25 headlining dates all around the US and a European leg in Britain, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. When I speak to MICHELLE, the collective has just reconvened in New York to prepare for the second leg of the tour abroad.
“You know, it used to be like Staten Island was Antarctica, you know what I mean? And Queens was LA,” Kaufman reflects. “Now I've traveled a little bit more and it's expanded what the world really is for me. But when I come back to New York, it feels like home. It feels like the place I belong, but it's not everything.”
Before their tour, the band had the chance to share their refreshing take on R&B to Mitski’s fans when they opened a leg of the cult indie sensation’s tour. The end of this summer was the first chance the artists had an extended break from their high-energy emotional performances and could focus on songwriting.
“There are two sides of you: the side that's always traveling and the side that's always home,” Kaufman explains. “We wrote this newest batch of songs in that alternate persona, which is, I think, what made them so kind of feel so fresh. It felt like writing songs for the first time because it felt like I was writing songs as a different person.”
“PULSE,” the first single released since their second full length album AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS, is one of the tracks written through the collective’s new eyes. The song marks the start of a new era for MICHELLE, departing from their low fidelity sound towards pop stardom. While their older material felt intimate and homey, “PULSE” is vibrant, catchy and ready-made for Hot 100 charts.
D’Angelo further explains this new era of MICHELLE: “We are definitely on a quest for bangers. Whether that's upbeat and positive or even emotional like channeling our inner rock. We really went sort of epic with our writing in August. Knowing that we're going deeper rather than bigger is… we'll see how it goes!”
“If we time travel back to early-era MICHELLE and we could change anything about what we're making music we wish we could’ve had cooler shit and made cooler sounds. That’s exactly where we are right now,” Kilgore says.
While MICHELLE has narrowed down their chemistry and trademark sound over the course of their two released LPs, they still proudly wear their influences on their sleeves. D’Angelo is clearly a fan of One Direction and The 1975’s Matty Healy, and producers Kilgore and Kaufman repeatedly bring up the lore of the synthesizers and drum pads they acquired because their favorite bands have similar gear.
D’Angelo’s take on performing carries through to the very core of the group. MICHELLE never formed with the intent of being a band. They call themselves a collective. They are a group of New Yorkers passionate about the art they have made and, through this collaboration, they have grown closer to each other and to their home city. Their first headlining tour stands as a testament to their newfound bonds as a creative family.
“My favorite moments of the tour are just relaxing with everyone… getting back to the hotel room and cracking open a beer with friends. I think that's a real bonding moment that brings me closer to everyone else,” Kaufman says.
This new era of MICHELLE, marked by the release of “PULSE,” is here to cement the collective as a staple on pop charts. It wouldn’t be shocking if their fans become inspired by their energetic live performances and, in true DIY style, make the transition from fan to performer, restarting the MICHELLE cycle.