Palehound – If You Met Her:
Since she was a child, Ellen Kempner has been playing guitar and writing songs as a way to process her life and experiences. College in New York City didnβt work out, and so she moved to Boston and eventually, started making music as Palehound. Kempner is now joined by Jesse Weiss on drums and Larz Brogan on guitar, and the groupβs second album, A Place Iβll Always Go, is out now. The album was recorded late last year at Thump Studios in Brooklyn, with the assistance of Gabe Wax (who also worked on the bandβs 2015 debut Dry Food).
For fear of alienating straight audiences and being pigeonholed, it wasnβt till recently that Kempner openly explored her queerness in her music. A Place Iβll Always Go finds two focuses: Kempnerβs partner, who she writes about using female pronouns, and her friend Lily, who passed away unexpectedly. She says, βWhen you lose a friendβa young friendβnothing can prepare you for that.β NPR says A Place Iβll Always Go βgradually projects a flicker of light amid the darknessβ: while experiencing the painful, and often confusing, feelings of grief, Kempner entered a new relationship.
The video for βIf You Met Herβ- which premiered over at Rookie Mag- was created entirely by high school students at the Real to Reel Filmschool at Raw Art Works in Lynn, Mass. We see Kempner driving, lost in thought, and at home, where she sits at the kitchen table, on her bed, and on a coffee table in front of the TV while recalling happy memories and wishing her friend could meet her new lover: βIβm with someone new, and I know that you would love her if you met her.β The clip is stunning in its honest portrayal of the unexpected feelings after loss, as the empty chairs hold weight and things crash to the ground around her.
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