Mundo Musique: Karen O's 'Crush Songs'

Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O. has experimented with other projects for a few years. She’s done movie soundtracks, an opera called Stop The Virgens, and a few shows here and there as Native Korean Rock. And with the future of Yeah Yeah Yeahs seemingly on hold for the moment, it was only a matter of time before we heard a solo album from Karen O.

Crush Songs is that long awaited album. From the first track, “Ooo” you can hear that this is absolutely nothing like a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record. There isn’t any of the noise you’d associate with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, there’s a different kind of noise, as everything is quite lo-fi. These songs are lo-fi because they’re tracks that were recorded in her home from 2006 – 2007, and each song has an intimate, and delicate feeling to it. Karen O. said for a few years she crushed on a lot of people, and you can feel that emotional ride, singing lyrics like “Love’s a fucking bitch” in “Rapt”, and songs like “NYC Baby” about long-distance.

Crush Songs is a really interesting listen. As I said It’s nothing like any Yeah Yeah Yeahs album you’ve ever heard. The songs are short and sweet. These are home recordings, and they sound like home recordings, but if that doesn’t bother you, Karen O’s debut solo album is a great listen that doesn’t sound like the side project of an internationally touring punk band, but more like the ramblings of an unknown singer-songwriter that you could find on Soundcloud, and that’s not exactly a bad thing.

I recommend Crush Songs if you liked some of the softer tracks from It’s Blitz, especially the acoustic versions or if you managed to see Stop The Virgens. Listening to Crush Songs makes me want to hear more from Karen O. aside from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and I hope we eventually hear a second solo album from Karen O, with the production her music deserves.

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