News: Shalom announces debut LP Sublimination. Watch the video for new single ‘Happenstance’

Shalom has announced her debut LP Sublimation for March 10 via Saddle Creek. The 13 tracks reflect the many sides of the Brooklyn-based, South African-raised artist with stories of heartbreak, feeling like an outsider, self-medicating and partying, and ultimately choosing love over fear. While she paints the edges of indie rock, Shalom, along with her collaborator and the album’s producer Ryan Hemsworth (Quarter-Life Crisis), team up for challenging and vivid arrangements that are danceable, driving, and also delicate.

Now you can watch the video for the lead single ‘Happenstance,’ a track that finds Shalom world sick. Over a muscular bassline, she sings, “I’m waiting for the day that I can finally walk away from all this bullshit.” As the track settles into a mesmerizing groove, she sings over the chorus, “I’m just trying to erase myself whenever I get the chance / my need to evaporate and receive validation at the same time is just happenstance.” It’s in these contradictions where Shalom’s writing thrives and is at the core of Sublimation.

Born in Maryland, raised in South Africa, and now residing in Brooklyn, Shalom’s musical journey has been an unconventional one. After experimenting in bands within the New Brunswick DIY scene (where she attended university), Shalom continued to push the boundaries of her songwriting, pulling from her experience as a first-generation woman of color and a college student in a predominately white space. In December 2020 She quietly released ‘Concrete’ and a couple of other early home-recorded demos on a self-released EP titled the first snowstorm of the year, which eventually caught the ear of producer Ryan Hemsworth. Impressed by her already-fully formed perspective and tight melodic sensibility, Hemsworth asked Shalom to work on his project Quarter-Life Crisis and she later signed with the seminal label Saddle Creek. The pair hit it off and began a year-long collaboration via Zoom, making music together and ultimately creating an extensive body of work that became Sublimation.

Sublimation: