Mark your calendars: June 27, 2025, is about to sound\u00a0really good. That\u2019s when LA-based four-piece Starling drops their latest EP,\u00a0\u2018Forgive Me,\u2019 on Sunday Drive Records\u2014a seven-track journey full of emotional tangles, melodic swells, and raw DIY grit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starling isn\u2019t easy to box in\u2014and 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<\/em>” 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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,\u00a0\u20182324,<\/em>\u2019 landed in fall 2024, and\u00a0\u2018Forgive Me,\u2019 feels like a leveled-up evolution\u2014same vulnerability, bigger swings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s talk sound. Opener Quiet<\/em> starts soft and shimmery, then absolutely detonates halfway through\u2014like your inner monologue got tired of being polite. I Can Be Convinced<\/em>, the lead single (watch the music video\u2014seriously, do it), dances on that sad-but-somehow-hopeful edge. It aches, but it moves. It’s still, but it grooves. Classic contradiction energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n