28 May 2021 Bachelor is a collaboration between two of the DIY scene’s most luminously raw diarists: Palehound’s Ellen Kempner and Jay Som‘s Melina Duterte. On the project’s debut album Doomin’ Sun, they join seamlessly and skillfully. Over ten tracks, they come together to make confidantes of their listeners, intertwining lyrics of desire and anxiety with layers of sonic exploration. Alternately bitter and sweet but invariably vulnerable, Doomin’ Sun is indie music at its most engaging, and Kempner and Duterte make a relatable pair. They’re also a versatile one. Catchy, acerbic rock cuts sit comfortably beside delicate ballads, acoustic and electric textures ebbing and flowing in seductive cross-currents where no style is off-limits: hot blues licks, noisy ambience, stripped-down picking, and atmospheric billowing all lend themselves well to different moments. The album’s opener, “Back of My Hand”, begins with a few seconds of ominous electronic growling that give way quickly and cleanly for tight drums and chords, building steadily into a catchy pop meditation on yearning, unrequited celebrity adoration, and the insecurities that follow. “You date the beauty queens / … / I skip a meal / I drink some tea / I’m your biggest fan.” Following track “Sand Angel” seems to both follow perfectly and change the pace completely, sensual bliss rising like slow-motion steam (“In your arms / Grind my teeth / As you toss me turn me”). Just as suddenly after the dream ends, “Stay in the Car” swings the album back into exuberant overdrive.