Phoebe Bridgers Joins Luminous Kid for New Single 'Mountain Crystals'

Multi-talented experimental pop singer-songwriter Luminous Kid has announced today's premiere of an intensely moving new single, as reported by PAPER, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. "Mountain Crystals" - which features a spoken word appearance from 4x GRAMMY® Award nominee Phoebe Bridgers - is available now at all DSPs and streaming services; the song is joined by a powerful official video, directed by Luminous Kid and streaming now at his official YouTube channel. "Mountain Crystals" heralds Luminous Kid's eagerly anticipated album, at the end of the dream, due April 23.

Recently named among The Line of Best Fit's "50 Artists On The Rise In 2021," Luminous Kid - a.k.a. acclaimed Swedish photographer/visual artist Olof Grind - first collaborated with Bridgers while shooting the striking cover to 2020's Punisher. Their 24-hour road trip into the California desert saw the two unique artists strike up a new friendship and when at the end of the dream was completed the following spring, Bridgers immediately declared "Mountain Crystals" to be her favorite track. Indeed, "Mountain Crystals" had in fact been written in Los Angeles after Grind was invited by Bridgers to a party at Conor Oberst's house, rendering her spoken word contribution a perfect closing of the circle to the song's origins.

Known for acclaimed visual content spanning album covers, press photos and music videos to high profile shoots for Vogue, i-D, VICE, and other international publications, the Stockholm-based Grind first began at the end of the dream in 2017 during a six month journey of creative exploration through South America. Having focused largely on writing, painting, and analogue photography, Grind bought a $20 guitar in a small coastal town in Colombia and began writing songs. Themes quickly emerged, centering around queer experiences in a heteronormative society, cute love stories and heavy heartaches, ephemeral encounters and strong friendships, a lack of faith and the constantly searching sensation of non-direction.

Grind continued writing over the next two years and eventually set about recording with producer Linus Hasselberg. They set up a studio in a summer house by the beautiful northern coastline of Sweden and infused lush analogue soundscapes with energy from the magical spots and experiences that inspired Luminous Kid's evocative songs, from the ocean waves rolling in next to their cabin to a voice memo of crickets and bugs recorded on a mountain in Colombia. The result is a truly original compendium of places, people, and memories captured and drawn up into what The Line of Best Fit has hailed as a "glorious collection of aerial queer love songs... entrancingly touching and subtle."

Indeed, songs such as "The Gutter of Our Ecstasy," "A Restless Heart Would Rather Float in Space," and the provocative "Velvet Meadow" - all joined by remarkable companion videos, directed by Grind - are ephemeral, dreamy, and unforgettable, filled with equal parts nostalgia and liberation and layered with nuanced meditations on raison d'être, relationships, and the transition from teenager to adulthood. From the music and lyrics to the album art, self-directed music videos, and accompanying coffee-table book of photography, at the end of the dream has proven the ultimate form of interdisciplinary media creation for Luminous Kid, an all-embracing multi-faceted work of queer art.

"I think the more role models and queer experiences that exist in popular culture, the better," says Luminous Kid. "If a song or a work of art can make a sad and trapped young queer person feel better about themselves, then it is a step in the right direction."

Listen to "Mountain Crystals" here:

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