{"id":4226,"date":"2025-04-09T17:07:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T17:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=4226"},"modified":"2025-04-10T18:26:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T18:26:30","slug":"comet-the-princess-of-nu-grunge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/09\/comet-the-princess-of-nu-grunge\/","title":{"rendered":"Comet, the Princess of Nu-Grunge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/assets.rebelmouse.io\/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy81OTg0MzM2MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTc2ODUyMjc4Mn0.AK-khZWUJ7sd9OLEtOCGFXd_Ms79uK0-FOQSm9BMOKU\/img.png?width=3000&amp;height=2142&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0\"><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cometintheflesh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Comet<\/a> and her band are standouts in New York City\u2019s most recent resuscitation of rock n\u2019 roll. (She is also my wife and twin flame, probably.) Nearly two years after her underground hit EP <em>Two-Winged<\/em>, she has unearthed her latest single, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4pQ-N6270Yw\">&#8220;Opium.&#8221;<\/a> Truly gritty with a polished patina, this hymn of dejection tears through the listener like a fresh needle, delivering a euphoric hit of satisfying highs along with frigid groans of indifference. <\/p>\n<p>It is accompanied by a crimson-and-gold soaked music video directed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/fiona__kane\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Fiona Kane<\/u><\/a>, which gives me chills every time I watch it. &#8220;Opium&#8221; is the lead single off Comet\u2019s <em>Quitter <\/em>EP, the four-track project produced alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/richardorofino\/?hl=en\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Richard Orofino<\/u><\/a> that\u2019s slated for release this May. She pushes the boundaries of &#8220;laptop rock&#8221; into a new, raw landscape \u2014 sonically, visually and conceptually all its own. Nu-grunge is born and Comet is the indisputable princess.<\/p>\n<p>We sat down for <em>PAPER<\/em> in our favorite basement bar over a graveyard of empty martini glasses to talk about quitting, pioneering and the fate of our generation. <\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"rm-shortcode\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"eadbe9641e5e0534a30c0f624b62f85a\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%\"><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Comet - Opium (Official Video)\" width=\"840\" height=\"630\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4pQ-N6270Yw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>What does &#8220;Opium&#8221; mean to you, conceptually, contextually, spiritually?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The song is about the cycle of wanting something \u2014 a grass is greener mentality about when that thing you crave so badly is obtained. It could be taken into any context, be it addiction or love, or really any desire that has a double-edged blade. &#8220;Opium&#8221; conceptually embodies just that. It brings bliss and joy, but has negative connotations depending on who you ask.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This is the lead single off your upcoming EP <em>Quitter<\/em>, which you also have tattooed on your hand. Why <em>Quitter<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Quitter was my childhood nickname. Many see it as giving up or dropping out, but when I was a kid it was my way of releasing something that wasn&#8217;t for me and not wasting any more time living for other people or doing things just because I felt like I was expected to. I quit a lot of things. People should quit more.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"88078f3ad971d3485f86ec0ed9eb8f30\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"b5523\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-4.png\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"e81cca40ba2456aa77a3d6562b8402f3\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"affaa\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-5.png\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Opium&#8221; and the whole EP, although consistent with the sound you\u2019ve been shaping for yourself, also feels very expansive and indicative of a distinct shift. What was the process of bringing <em>Quitter<\/em> to life?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m writing a debut album currently, and these were songs that didn\u2019t fit. They were brighter, warmer and dare I say more pop. I still wanted to release them, so I decided to put them in their own world. The idea for &#8220;Opium&#8221; specifically started with my bassist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/icycrevice\/?hl=en\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Grant Lepping<\/u><\/a>, it wouldn\u2019t exist without him. We were at my apartment ADHD noodling around in Logic and he came up with that insane intro guitar riff. It was just so huge, I knew it had to be something. The band and I fleshed it out with Richard at his house and recorded it at an East Village studio, then we brought it back to the bedroom and re-recorded almost everything again. Working with Richard really brought these songs to life. His sound has this sort of enthralling magic to it that I love. In production, he gave all these songs an unexpected new veneer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s bringing grunge to a new level. It\u2019s nu-grunge.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Everyone calls us the redo generation, but people need to sit back and let us defy that expectation. Everything has been done before until it hasn\u2019t. Art is lineage.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"4a8c04ce11a236e5f91f071eae170758\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"29448\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-6.png\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>We\u2019re coming out of a very electronic-heavy cultural moment right now. Do you think the world is ready for rock again?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rock is not coming back to relive the reason it left. Guys playing guitars at shows and sounding like the fucking Strokes, that&#8217;s not why people are coming back to rock. People don&#8217;t want to hear that all over again and they also don\u2019t want to hear another ripoff Nirvana. You will never be Kurt Cobain, so you have to be yourself. We have to be Comet and Taraneh. We can&#8217;t be Kurt, we can&#8217;t be Courtney, we can&#8217;t be Kim Gordon. Those people have already done their thing and taken their seat at the table of rock greatness. We have to add something new. Electronic music has really come leaps and bounds yet rock has not evolved, honestly, since the 2000s maybe the &#8217;90s. Everyone&#8217;s been trying to decide how to bring it back, but we need to push it forward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Making something new, musically, goes beyond pushing boundaries sonically, but also it requires world-building. Building a culture about the work, which is something you do really well. Tell me about the visuals, the &#8220;Opium&#8221; music video and how it helps outline the world of the<em> Quitter<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The music video is me writhing around my friend Annette\u2019s room. Last year I had a very downer year \u2014 I was recovering from a major surgery, alone in my room, and this video is how I felt, wallowing around in bed and caught in the spiral. The video embodies that stuck-ness. On the cover and toward the end of the video there\u2019s an apple \u2014 it\u2019s kind of a physical manifestation of that thing we&#8217;re all hung up on. In the outro I\u2019m rolling around, there&#8217;s a bunch of apples around me and I&#8217;m taking a single bite of all of them. The last shot is me looking on, in that black space where all those feelings live. That&#8217;s opium, the solution \u2014 the chase, the escape, the fix-all. <\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"8087241938e9a3fb74149711be55ae38\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"fc1b9\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-7.png\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"6ead28d93070ffb7886142c5c34b5c74\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"c4e9a\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-8.png\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Even though neither of us are Christian I feel like the apple always invokes something biblical at least to Western audiences. Is that something you had in mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The apple has always been a feminine fruit to me. Apples are really evocative and inherently sexy. The bright red also just looks good on camera, obviously, but it evokes thought and that\u2019s why I chose it. The word &#8220;Opium&#8221; summons varied imagery, as well. I just wanted a visual symbol that\u2019s subjective.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you want to see shift culturally, right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I want to see interesting faces and voices come back to the forefront that don&#8217;t all sound the same. I want people who have something to say, even if it&#8217;s unpopular. A lot of art, especially rock \u2014 even though there is some better rock coming up right now \u2014 so much of it is just introspective and many musicians are in an echo chamber. I want to hear an important message, not in a super teeny bopper way, although talking about things that truly matter will always be inherently corny. I want new music to go beyond self-absorbed breakup songs. Of course, all of us can relate to that, but let\u2019s dig a little deeper. <\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"5eff31583d3efc18f6834edfe9ca1a9b\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"37b0f\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-9.png\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>We all love breakup music or solely introspective music. We\u2019re all guilty of making it too, but at a certain point it becomes a cop-out. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve done it, we&#8217;ve all done it. <em>Two-Winged<\/em>, my last EP, is almost exclusively selfish wallowing. But with this project and the album I\u2019m writing, I\u2019ve made it a point to try and look outward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Culturally we\u2019ve been looking inward so much, but music has been void of commentary. Artful commentary. We\u2019re kind of culturally stupid right now, I\u2019m excited for people who are ready to actually say something.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Everyone should think about what they want to say. I want to see my generation&#8217;s mark made on art and history. Of course, there&#8217;s good and bad in every era. Everyone glorifies the past because it is a prophecy already fulfilled. Someone needs to suck it up and say something substantial. Like, when you and I saw Patti Smith last year, to every baby boomer in that room she is a hero. To me, there aren&#8217;t many artists our age right now doing it like that. When we are 70 years old, who are the grandkids going to ask you about? Maybe it\u2019ll be us.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Everyone calls us the redo generation, but people need to sit back and let us defy that expectation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\n<em>Story: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/taranehsworld\/?hl=en\">Taraneh<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<br \/><em>Photography: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/aperfectdrowning\">Jo Barajas<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<em>Styling: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/megsuperstarprincess\/\">Meg Yates<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<em>Hair: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/scottdohair\/\">Scott Fabian<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Comet and her band are standouts in New York City\u2019s most recent resuscitation of rock n\u2019 roll. (She is also my wife and twin flame, probably.) Nearly two years after her underground hit EP Two-Winged, she has unearthed her latest single, &#8220;Opium.&#8221; Truly gritty with a polished patina, this hymn of dejection tears through the listener like a fresh needle, delivering a euphoric hit of satisfying highs along with frigid groans of indifference. It is accompanied by a crimson-and-gold soaked &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/09\/comet-the-princess-of-nu-grunge\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Comet, the Princess of Nu-Grunge&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4236,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226\/revisions\/4236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}