Starling’s new EP ‘Forgive Me,’ is a gritty, gorgeous dive into the messiness of being human

Mark your calendars: June 27, 2025, is about to sound really good. That’s when LA-based four-piece Starling drops their latest EP, ‘Forgive Me,’ on Sunday Drive Records—a seven-track journey full of emotional tangles, melodic swells, and raw DIY grit.

Starling isn’t easy to box in—and thank god for that. Their sound floats somewhere between grunge, shoegaze, and indie rock with a diary-entry soul. Think hazy guitar leads, heartfelt lyrics, and a kind of “soft heaviness” that hits you right in the chest. It’s music for when you’re feeling everything all at once and have no idea what to do about it.

The band came together in May 2024, but it all started with lead singer and guitarist Kasha Souter Willett, who kicked things off as a solo project in 2023. A year later, Starling became whole with the additions of Erik Sathrum Johnson (drums + mixing wizard), Grace Rolek, and Gitai Vinshtok. Their first EP, ‘2324,’ landed in fall 2024, and ‘Forgive Me,’ feels like a leveled-up evolution—same vulnerability, bigger swings.

Let’s talk sound. Opener Quiet starts soft and shimmery, then absolutely detonates halfway through—like your inner monologue got tired of being polite. I Can Be Convinced, the lead single (watch the music video—seriously, do it), dances on that sad-but-somehow-hopeful edge. It aches, but it moves. It’s still, but it grooves. Classic contradiction energy.

There’s also No Frown, 25, My Love, and Slow Down—each track pulling at different threads of confusion, longing, and connection. And closing track Keep It? It’s a nearly 7-minute emotional slow-burn the band’s been perfecting on stage since early 2024. It simmers, it growls, it soars. By the end, you’re both exhausted and grateful.

What makes this release extra special is how handcrafted it all is. ‘Forgive Me,’ was recorded in garages, sheds, and bedrooms—sweaty summer days, no AC, just pure passion. Mixed by Erik, mastered by Greg Obis (Duster, MJ Lenderman, Wishy), and wrapped in artwork shot by the band and their friends, this is Starling at their most unfiltered and real.

This EP feels like a journal entry written in feedback and fuzz, and Starling invites you to read every line out loud.

Listen to ‘Forgive Me,’ starting June 27.
Pre-order now.

And hey—don’t sleep on that I Can Be Convinced video.