Emily Kinney with Melody Federer — live event
In competitive swim races, if a swimmer jumps into the pool before the starting signal, they could be disqualified or forced to climb out in front of everybody and start over. It’s an embarrassing scenario for athletes, but the “false start” also serves as a clever metaphor for anyone having to climb out of the pool – wet and shivering – and told to start over. It’s an allegory the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and actress Emily Kinney mines for inspiration on her new album, the aptly titled Swim Team. Produced by Kinney’s longtime collaborator Benjamin Greenspan, Swim Team follows 2021’s Supporting Character and 2018’s Oh Jonathan and grapples with the end of a relationship and works through Kinney’s conflicting feelings around the acting industry. Recalling early-career Rilo Kiley, Swim Team is an expert showcase for Kinney’s vocals, which are both vulnerable and wry as she sizes up an ex on “Broken Air Conditioning”: “I’m a little tired of the measuring stick/ If I wasn’t in love, I’d call you kind of a dick/ I’m a little tired of the broken shower/ Of the IRS/ Of the lack of sex/ I’m so tired, I can’t get out of bed/ You’re sure it’s my fault/ It’s all in my head.” “It's a breakup album,” Kinney says of Swim Team. “Supporting Character was very much more about my artistic spiritual life, and some of those spiritual themes do show up in the lyrics on Swim Team. But I would say it's more of a breakup album, and also an album about shame and embarrassment.” Expanding on “Broken Air Conditioning,” Kinney says: "One of my favorite things about dating this person was getting to spend so much time in Nashville. I'd go there every couple of weeks; if I had to film something, I would film and then go to Nashville for a few days, and then come back to LA. I loved that part of the relationship. Even if he wouldn't be there until two days later, and I would be in Nashville by myself, I would be feeling really great. But then as soon as he was there, things became stressful pretty quickly. So, in a way the song is about my frustration and feeling that he destroyed Nashville for me." Later, Kinney asks herself, “How can I muster the motivation to dive in again?” on the acoustic- led “False Start,” which outlines the aforementioned scenario of jumping off the swimmer’s block too quickly. “Kinda wanna just quit swim team entirely,” Kinney concludes — an all-too- relatable feeling for any listener who has faced rejection and questioned how they would ever start again. “False Start” connects both dominating threads within the album — the end of a relationship and career doubts, as Kinney explains. “‘False Start’ was written when I was trying to date new people, and I was dealing with a lot of rejection within my acting career. I was feeling like, ‘Dang, I don't want to keep putting myself in this position. Why am I continuing to feel like a loser?’”
Starts: 2024-11-04T19:00:14Z
Ends: 2024-11-04T21:00:14Z
Where: Park, 25 11th Ave, at Hudson River, New York, New York 10011, United States
Price: $22.0