Leaving North Carolina in 2021, Asheville-born garage-folk singer-songwriter Adriana McCassim probably couldn’t have imagined that just two years after moving to LA, she would be opening for Sharon Van Etten alongside Angel Olsen and getting the honorary title of “my dear friend” from the former.
Around the same time, McCassim linked up with Pitchfork-approved slash indieheads-acclaimed musician and producer Ryan Pollie, along with mixing engineer Alex Fararr—who has worked with nearly every trendy indie darling from Snail Mail to Wednesday—to collaborate on her debut album See It Fades. “Moving to LA and making this record was a sink or tread water situation”, she reflects on that period now.
From the opening cut ‘Pretend’, with its reverb-drenched riffs and her distinctive laid-back yet buoyant vocals, it’s immediately clear McCassim is set to be a new indie folk heroine. However, her shoegazey, DIY-indebted sonics, paired with an almost hysterical, abrupt, and partly indistinct vocal delivery, doesn’t quite fit into the typical indie folk tradition of the last decade.
“Does it freak you out / It doesn’t matter now”, McCassim sings, descending into a squeal on the lead single, ‘Touch’. Her whimsical and impulsive approach can feel unsettling at times. Yet, by the midpoint of See It Fades, it’s no longer relevant, as the eclectic sound of the record—absorbing influences from the post-White Stripes wave of the early ’00s to the indie rock of the 2010s—coalesce into a unique tapestry of tunes that the folk scene has been sorely lacking.
Using short, hazy, and bold lines evoking The Kills like “I’m on my knees / I want a beer and a cigarette please” in ‘Self Control’ or “A passer by with a good heart / Your empty house / With a black dog, en guarde” in ‘Love (can overtake us) Slow’, McCassim draws Edward Hopper-style minimalistic sketches—meager but full of subtle, quiet drama—depicting modern life and love that could easily accompany some of Jim Jarmusch’s films.
All in all, paraphrasing her own words from the Cardigans-meets Phoebe Bridgers cut ‘Tarantula Type’, it’s safe to say that Adriana McCassim is truly “one of a kind”, and everything will be fine.
