Like most genres these days, pop music is a wonderfully inclusive, fluid thing. Sounds from the indie world butt right against electronic machines arranged in folky structures. It’s one of the great things about being able to listen to music these days, which is what makes Karmic such an instant joy.
Comprising vocalists Laura Baruch and Kylee Katch from Los Angeles, Seattle producer/drummer Samuel Murphy, and Austrian producer/multi-instrumentalist Peter Kastner, Karmic classifies themselves as “electronic indie pop.” That’s not exactly a rare descriptor, but the four-piece takes each word seriously. Their new track “Lighthouse”, for example, has all the romantic arrangement of a sorrowful indie song in the aching vocals and haunting piano. As the clapping rhythm comes in under dancing guitar notes, the pop edges start to reveal themselves. But just when you think you’ve finally got the whole thing figured out, there’s a bass drop that tips the thing into straight EDM territory.
As Baruch tells Consequence of Sound, “Lighthouse” all began on a piano as she looked out onto a foggy beach. “I thought about how sometimes we tend to get into a dark place in our lives, and like the boats coming into shore on a foggy day, we need the help of a lighthouse,” she says. “Your lighthouse can be anyone or anything that helps you get through a dark time and find a light that brings you home.”
Just as the song itself blends genre, animator @MASSgrfx utilized many different styles for the track’s video. There’s surrealist line drawings that snap into place around a quivering anime style. At one point, it’s all psychedelic colors and trippy robots melting into each other. Right at the end, it shifts into a sort of rotoscopic outlining. It’s a dizzying and beautiful visual, and you can watch it unfold up above.
