Kali Flanagan

A few years ago, KALI - a 16-year-old singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer - began writing and recording her brand of glistering, catchy indie-rock songs and assembled her first band Big Wednesday. Their relatable and honest indie-surf arrangements drew sweaty, teenage crowds to local Los Angeles venues like The Smell and The Viper Room. "As I got older, I started to have experiences that were much more emotional and personal, and songwriting became an actual necessity instead of something that was fun for me to do," KALI explains, describing the gut-wrenching introspective process that led to her solo project as KALI. KALI's songs are boundless, magical, and honest. They emphasize dramatic loops and meditative open space, creating emotionally complex environments with entrancing repetitions and moments of sonic simplicity. Her vocal melodies, both intricate and vast, nearly float above a blend of alt-rock sounds, from shoegaze to psychedelic rock and dream pop. She draws from her daily life acutely in her music, referencing things her friends would say in lyrics and sampling phone conversations as she does on her buoyant debut single, "Back to the Start."