Rose is a rose
Grief is a wave
And I remain crossed
October marks the turn toward shadows—the beginning of the season of the witch, leading into spooky holidays such as Halloween, All Souls’ Day, and Día de los Muertos. It is a time when the veil between the living and the dead grows thin, when remembrance carries us back to loved ones lost, and when rituals of grief and memory take on a spectral weight. Naturally, it is a darker and more gothic time of year, and the perfect backdrop for a song steeped in mourning, transformation, and transcendence.
It is within this context that Los Angeles’ underground stalwart Taleen Kali returns with Crossed, an ethereally haunting single that finds the artist pushing her sound further into shadowy territory. Known previously as the voice behind flower-punk outfit TÜLIPS, and as the force behind Dum Dum Records and Dum Dum Zine, Kali now fronts her own backing band with a sound that fuses post-punk, shoegaze, and L.A. punk into something uniquely her own. Crossed channels influences such as The Horrors, Ringo Deathstarr, Sextile, L.A. Witch, Tamaryn, Curve, and Chapterhouse.
The song uncoils with guitar haze and sudden drum shifts, each moment both deliberate and combustible. Vocals hover between sugar and steel, unafraid of vulnerability, yet undeniably commanding. In the chorus, the mantra “forever, golden and silver” repeats like an incantation, its persistence less about endurance than transcendence. What emerges is neither triumph nor despair but a steady recognition of transformation: roses, waves, crucifixion, permanence.
“The opening lines of the song are ‘Rose is a rose’ which is from my favorite Gertrude Stein poem Sacred Emily,” says Kali. “It’s meant to convey ‘it is what it is,’ or ‘things are what they are.’ I wanted to write about how matter of fact things are in life when the only choice you have is to ride the waves of grief. I lost my grandmother in 2023, the year we released our debut album, and the song Crossed is a personal exploration where I’m just trying to make sense of the loss. Missing my favorite person on earth and wishing I could find a way to commune with the dead. The artwork features an Ethiopian cross that my grandmother always used to wear from her hometown of Addis Ababa, which she passed onto me.”
Taleen Kali’s Crossed represents the band’s second glimpse into their evolving sound and arrives as the B-side to their June single Aepex—an apt metaphor for the group’s upward trajectory. Named one of “6 rising artists to watch” by Alternative Press last year, Taleen Kali has steadily built momentum: performing their first official SXSW showcase in March, and joining their first direct support tour with Ringo Deathstarr over the summer. For this new pair of singles, Kali returned to The Cave Studios with producer/engineer Josiah Mazzaschi (Light FM, Bizou, Child Seat) and enlisted Chris King (Cold Showers, Kai Tak) for mixing duties. It also marks the first time Taleen herself co-produced a recording, and the first time bassist Miles Marsico stepped behind the kit to track drums—testament to the collective’s fluid musicianship.
Crossed also features a guitar duet solo between Kali and the band’s newest guitarist, Genevieve Quiquivix, a call-and-response passage evoking dialogue between our plane and the other side. Percussion comes courtesy of longtime touring drummer Anthony Schillaci, cementing the band’s role as more of a punk collective than a conventional outfit.
Listen to Crossed below and order the single here.
Catch Taleen Kali live:
- Oct 2 – Dolphin • Philadelphia, PA
- Oct 3 – Mr. Roboto • Pittsburgh, PA
- Oct 4 – Cole’s Bar • Chicago, IL
- Oct 5 – Smalls Bar • Detroit, MI
- Oct 6 – Mercury Lounge • Cleveland, OH
- Oct 7 – Pie Shop • Washington, DC
- Oct 8 – Purgatory • Brooklyn, NY
- Oct 9 – Deep Cuts • Boston, MA
- Oct 31 – Tower Bar • San Diego, CA
- Nov 7 – Substance Fest • Los Angeles, CA
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