Tchotchke

On Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind, the kaleidoscopic full-length debut from Kate Bollinger, entire worlds lie in the small details. When Im recording a song, the Charlottesville-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter observes, my indication of whether its worth pursuing is if Im seeing a movie in my head to go along with it. Blending classic pop songcraft with scrappy punk instincts, Bollinger casts a collage-like vision thats instantly memorable and uniquely mystifying. Ranging from homespun folk songs to warmly rendered psychedelic rocklike early Rolling Stones as fronted by Hope Sandovalthe resulting album can feel like flipping through your coolest friends record collection, finding a new favorite song with each discovery.In order to summon this majestic blend of styles, Bollinger spent years cultivating material, challenging herself to work with new collaborators while moving across the country from her native Virginia to California. Evolving the hermetic approach of her early EPs and solo performances, she arrived at a fuller sound based on intuitive responses and in-the-moment energy. I came to this realization that most of my favorite music is the result of friends, or players who have known each other a long time, coming together and playing live in the room, she observes. Armed with endless hooks and wildly shifting textures, Bollinger can seem as much like a songwriter as an art-house auteur, crafting the soundtrack and scenery for a non-existent movie. (Fittingly, Bollinger studied film in college, and she also directed the striking music video for Jessica Pratts recent single World on a String.)