<\/p>\n
Last year, the British dance musician known as Fred Again.. put out a feeler to the Nashville-based alt-rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise about a possible collaboration. Ela Melo, who\u2019s fronted Rainbow Kitten Surprise since she and guitarist Darrick Keller formed the group over a decade ago as students at North Carolina\u2019s Appalachian State University, was intrigued by the invitation. \u201cIt\u2019s brilliant music,\u201d she says of Fred Again..\u2019s soulful electronica.<\/p>\n
So the singer and songwriter began sending ideas to the artist\u2019s team. \u201cThey\u2019d be like, \u2018That\u2019s not it, but keep sending stuff,\u2019\u201d Melo recalls. Before long, she and her bandmates had written nine songs, then 32, then 48. \u201cEventually, we ended up with close to 160 songs because it just felt so good to write,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
What happened with the Fred Again.. feature? \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Melo says with a laugh. \u201cIf he\u2019s still interested, we\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing that happened was a new Rainbow Kitten Surprise album: \u201cBones,\u201d which the band said Wednesday will come out Sept. 26 from Atlantic Records. A 10-track collection produced by Jay Joyce, it\u2019s a quick and dirty follow-up to last year\u2019s \u201cLove Hate Music Box,\u201d which ran for 22 tracks \u2014 including \u201cOvertime,\u201d with Kacey Musgraves<\/a> \u2014 and which took the band six years to complete. \u201cThis one kind of just came pouring out,\u201d Melo says from upstate New York on a recent afternoon between tour dates. The sound is raw yet tuneful, with scratchy electric guitars and whomping live drums in place of the synth-ier, more intricately layered productions of \u201cLove Hate Music Box.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n <\/picture> <\/svg> <\/button> <\/ps-youtubeplayer> <\/div><\/div><\/div>\nRounded out by guitarist Ethan Goodpaster and drummer Jess Haney, RKS had its rowdy live show in mind as it worked on \u201cBones,\u201d according to Melo. \u201cIt was the idea that we gotta be able to play this stuff \u2014 not build it and play it later, but play it right out of the gate,\u201d the singer says. (Next month, the band will log its fourth sold-out show at Colorado\u2019s Red Rocks Amphitheatre and perform at the annual Ohana festival in Dana Point.) Melo wrote many of the LP\u2019s songs on guitar, she says, which provided \u201ca different energy\u201d compared to writing on keyboards as she did for \u201cLove Hate Music Box\u201d and 2018\u2019s \u201cHow To: Friend, Love, Freefall.\u201d<\/p>\nThe straightforward sound is matched by lyrics Melo describes as \u201cway more direct\u201d than RKS\u2019 earlier stuff. \u201cIt\u2019s a spill-your-guts-out record,\u201d she says, adding that for every song, she\u2019d write a first verse, then ad lib the rest in the studio. In more than a few tunes, she sings about how relationships are affected by drinking and drugs. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting what comes out on the mic,\u201d says the frontwoman, who says she\u2019s been sober for about 10 months. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s channeling some energy that I don\u2019t take part in anymore, though I do have fond memories of getting stoned on the Parkway in Boone, North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat inspired her life change? \u201cI noticed that when I drank, I could be a little meaner \u2014 just say things I wouldn\u2019t normally say,\u201d she replies. \u201cI realized I want control of that, and anything that removes some of that control is a no-go. It applies to music, as well. Being as regulated as you can possibly be opens you up to \u2014 this gets a little heady \u2014 but to other frequencies. Then you have the largest bandwidth to communicate your truth \u2014 maybe the<\/i> truth \u2014 into a microphone.\u201d<\/p>\nWith its fuzzy textures and unruly tempos, \u201cBones\u201d arrives as rock seems to be resurging after years of domination by rappers and pop stars. Melo has no grand theories as to why, but she knows exactly when she started to believe that rock is back. \u201cIt was the opening track of \u2018Guts\u2019 by Olivia Rodrigo,\u201d she says of the former Disney kid\u2019s \u201cAll-American Bitch.\u201d \u201cThat kick drum hit me, and I was like, \u2018Ah man, I don\u2019t need an 808 and all the bells and whistles \u2014 I just need old-school guitars, bass and drums.\u2019 That s\u2014 hits.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, the British dance musician known as Fred Again.. put out a feeler to the Nashville-based alt-rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise about a possible collaboration. Ela Melo, who\u2019s fronted Rainbow Kitten Surprise since she and guitarist Darrick Keller formed the group over a decade ago as students at North Carolina\u2019s Appalachian State University, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1948597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1948596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Rainbow-Kitten-Surprise-will-release-Bones-on-Sept-26.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1948596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1948597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1948596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1948596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1948596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Rounded out by guitarist Ethan Goodpaster and drummer Jess Haney, RKS had its rowdy live show in mind as it worked on \u201cBones,\u201d according to Melo. \u201cIt was the idea that we gotta be able to play this stuff \u2014 not build it and play it later, but play it right out of the gate,\u201d the singer says. (Next month, the band will log its fourth sold-out show at Colorado\u2019s Red Rocks Amphitheatre and perform at the annual Ohana festival in Dana Point.) Melo wrote many of the LP\u2019s songs on guitar, she says, which provided \u201ca different energy\u201d compared to writing on keyboards as she did for \u201cLove Hate Music Box\u201d and 2018\u2019s \u201cHow To: Friend, Love, Freefall.\u201d<\/p>\n
The straightforward sound is matched by lyrics Melo describes as \u201cway more direct\u201d than RKS\u2019 earlier stuff. \u201cIt\u2019s a spill-your-guts-out record,\u201d she says, adding that for every song, she\u2019d write a first verse, then ad lib the rest in the studio. In more than a few tunes, she sings about how relationships are affected by drinking and drugs. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting what comes out on the mic,\u201d says the frontwoman, who says she\u2019s been sober for about 10 months. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s channeling some energy that I don\u2019t take part in anymore, though I do have fond memories of getting stoned on the Parkway in Boone, North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n
What inspired her life change? \u201cI noticed that when I drank, I could be a little meaner \u2014 just say things I wouldn\u2019t normally say,\u201d she replies. \u201cI realized I want control of that, and anything that removes some of that control is a no-go. It applies to music, as well. Being as regulated as you can possibly be opens you up to \u2014 this gets a little heady \u2014 but to other frequencies. Then you have the largest bandwidth to communicate your truth \u2014 maybe the<\/i> truth \u2014 into a microphone.\u201d<\/p>\n
With its fuzzy textures and unruly tempos, \u201cBones\u201d arrives as rock seems to be resurging after years of domination by rappers and pop stars. Melo has no grand theories as to why, but she knows exactly when she started to believe that rock is back. \u201cIt was the opening track of \u2018Guts\u2019 by Olivia Rodrigo,\u201d she says of the former Disney kid\u2019s \u201cAll-American Bitch.\u201d \u201cThat kick drum hit me, and I was like, \u2018Ah man, I don\u2019t need an 808 and all the bells and whistles \u2014 I just need old-school guitars, bass and drums.\u2019 That s\u2014 hits.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, the British dance musician known as Fred Again.. put out a feeler to the Nashville-based alt-rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise about a possible collaboration. Ela Melo, who\u2019s fronted Rainbow Kitten Surprise since she and guitarist Darrick Keller formed the group over a decade ago as students at North Carolina\u2019s Appalachian State University, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1948597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1948596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Rainbow-Kitten-Surprise-will-release-Bones-on-Sept-26.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1948596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1948597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1948596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1948596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1948596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, the British dance musician known as Fred Again.. put out a feeler to the Nashville-based alt-rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise about a possible collaboration. Ela Melo, who\u2019s fronted Rainbow Kitten Surprise since she and guitarist Darrick Keller formed the group over a decade ago as students at North Carolina\u2019s Appalachian State University, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1948597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1948596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Rainbow-Kitten-Surprise-will-release-Bones-on-Sept-26.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1948596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1948597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1948596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1948596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1948596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Last year, the British dance musician known as Fred Again.. put out a feeler to the Nashville-based alt-rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise about a possible collaboration. Ela Melo, who\u2019s fronted Rainbow Kitten Surprise since she and guitarist Darrick Keller formed the group over a decade ago as students at North Carolina\u2019s Appalachian State University, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1948597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1948596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Rainbow-Kitten-Surprise-will-release-Bones-on-Sept-26.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1948596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1948597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1948596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1948596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1948596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}