Lead singer Ela Melo’s achingly beautiful vocals power the record, as she sings of complex relationships – the record’s central theme.
Backed by her all-star team, guitarists Darrick “Bozzy” Keller and Ethan Goodpacker, drummer Jess Haney, and writing and session members, bassist Maddie Bouton, and keyboardist Drew Long - their features culminate in a project that plays like a jam session – marked by flowing instrumentation and radical honesty.
The album opens with ‘Friendly Fire’, which sets the tone for the rest of its runtime. Here, Ela contextualises the relationship that haunts the whole album, immediately coming in with, “Looking at you for the first time was like seeing first light at the end of the tunnel”.
However, this romantic sentiment is quickly subsided by the present-day reality that she faces: “Oh, man, I got it handed by you” / “Where’d you go now?”. Her words are underscored by subtle shifts in pace, heightening the track’s emotional range, as she flicks from sadness to desperation.
Title track ‘bones’ takes a more upbeat spin on this failed relationship, transforming this inherently sad topic into something almost danceable. “Am I too late for you, fine?” is belted over a shimmering guitar section, turning the line of quiet desperation into something else entirely, a note of acceptance and hopefulness for beginning the process of moving on.
However, this apparent optimism doesn’t last long. Healing is not linear, and neither are the feelings presented on this record, ordered to reflect the uneven process of recovering from a real-life breakup. ‘Murder’ makes this most apparent, opening with a deflated confession, “Simplest way to say it, that I’m thinking that I fucking miss you”. The arrangement in the background slows down to allow Ela’s vocals the full attention, her distinct accent gliding over electronic features. Nostalgia is practically woven into her voice, evoking deep emotion and inviting listeners to come and bask in this sad, yet sonically stunning, realm that she’s crafted with her band.
It’s the line “And it comes and it goes in waves” on ‘Stars’ that serves best as a summary of the whole album. The record shifts to and from all ends of the emotional spectrum, from anger to despair to acceptance and right back again. Sitting at a tight thirty-five minutes, the album is a curated journey through heartbreak and healing, offering a resoundingly human perspective, covering all the messy complexities of reality in a way that is vulnerable, brave, and sonically triumphant.
‘bones’ reminds us that, while love and loss are both fleeting, Rainbow Kitten Surprise’s talent for channelling mess into masterpieces isn’t.