Freya's Feline return to the WYSO studios in November for a live session on Kaleidoscope. Sisco Red (vocals/guitar), Kyleen Downes (vocals/guitar), Gabriella Erbacher (vocals/bass/viola) and Abigail Moone (vocals/drums) talked with music director Juliet Fromholt about their latest releases.
In October, Freya's Felines released "Sisters," a song that goes back to the band's origins in 2016.
"I love the way a song will travel its journey from just the conception of how we played it a long time ago. And then taking into the studio the song now with the sitar," said Downes. "That gave the song a different life. And so I love that, we've played it, now we're exploring it in the studio, and now hearing people's feedback is a whole other realm to how we perceive the song."
The band is continuing to explore, this time in the realm of holiday music. Erbacher, the newest member of Freya's Felines, was the catalyst.
"I am a little bit obsessed with Christmas going back to those classic Christmas songs," said Erbacher. "It's just this beautiful nostalgic melody and then harmonies galore. That's my cup of tea. So I was like, 'Man I love Christmas.' And then Kyleen was like, 'You know, we could do a Christmas album...'"
"We got together last Christmas, and we had a little band Christmas and, you know, we ate some cookies and decorated some cookies. We sang some Christmas songs, we did some little caroling and little snippets of ideas came out," said Downes.
The result is Flannel Tidings, a 3 song EP of original holiday themed music that range from the folkier winter tune, "Simple Cabin" to "Spirit of Christmas," which tackles the way climate change has impacted the look and feel of the season.
"Songwriting is so therapeutic too," said Downes. "Because it is a way that you get some things out, some of your fears in a way that feels safe and communal as opposed to just rolling around by yourself in your head."
Flannel Tidings is available now on Bandcamp.
