Kill Rock Stars' zannie Releases Album 'How Do I Get That Star'

Brooklyn's Zannie Owens conceived of their debut solo record, How Do I Get That Star, as an homage to Voyager One Golden Record, the album that Carl Sagan and Lynn Margulis sent into space in 1977.

"I was following this narrative idea about an alien on Earth trying to find their way back to their home planet," says zannie. The idea also comes from one of their favorite poets, Jack Spicer, "He had this whole thing about artists being radio transmitters for Martians or ghosts." Today, Kill Rock Stars releases their debut with tremendous pride, joy & zannie appreciation.

How Do I Get That Star, is a sort of Spicer-esque exercise in spooky, spectral auto-dictation that has its roots in the outer limits of our galaxy. Made over the course of four years, the record deals with feelings of pining for the unknown, the mystical, and the mundane. To paraphrase zannie, the record was produced mitotically from their mind.

It's zannie's debut record under their own name, as well as the first release with Kill Rock Stars. Previously, they helmed the band Really Big Pinecone and also performed as Potted Plant. This latest effort is self-produced, and features contributions from friends in New York, as well as zannie's brother Sam, who plays bass and also mixed the record.

The resulting 11 songs (picked precisely because of the number's magical, symmetrical qualities), are warm to the touch. To listen to How Do I Get That Star is to immerse oneself in a sound bath or look up at the stars on a summer night in the middle of nowhere.

When zannie was making the record, they were listening to a lot of Judee Sill and Prince. How Do I Get This Star takes on that kind of velvety, baroque feeling. Just take "Song of Rose Pain," as one such offering. Here, arpeggiated keys and drum machines take on the hypertrophied quality of a monstera. In the foreground, resonant guitars glow, and zannie sings about wondering whether or not they're a human. The cavernous "Doppler," is a science ballad.

The song is about the titular doppler effect. It's the oldest song on the record, and gives off the vibe of a trip to one of Jupiter's far off moons. On "A Rose For Every Puppet," they explore love, not just in the big feeling romantic kind, but also in a more platonic sense. There are saxophones and pristine bass grooves, synths that shimmer and shake. The song exists in the milieu between thorny chamber pop and adult contemporary. It's a little bit sexy. Mostly it makes you want to dance wildly.

The same can be true of all of the record, which is a true blue, one of a kind piece of music. It's closest contemporary analogs are Erin Birgy's project as Mega Bog, or Johanna Warren. How Do I Get This Star is a gorgeous album, containing matter both dark and light. If the record the product of mitotic reproduction, its final form is a rose, a puppet, a little alien guy who is far from home but very much along for the ride.

Listen to a new album here: