Hear Kate Bollinger’s “Feel Like Doing Nothing,” a quiet ode to procrastination

From her forthcoming A word becomes a sound EP.

August 04, 2020

Virginia-based singer-songwriter Kate Bollinger's 2019 EP, I Don't Wanna Lose, released last summer, was a quiet and unassuming record that hid a promising songwriter beneath mellow arrangements and a lo-fi mix. The whole thing was recorded live in a free day of studio time, with little pre-production or mastering. So her forthcoming release, A word becomes a sound, due out on August 21, feels in many ways like her proper debut. Unlike the self-released I Don't Wanna Lose, this one's coming out on House Arrest. And this time Bollinger was able to spend time perfecting the songs in the studio with her main collaborator, John Trainum — even if the sudden spread of COVID-19 cut the sessions a little short.

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The latest single from the project, "Feel Like Doing Nothing," is premiering at the top of the page. A little closer to jazz-pop side of indie rock this time (Feist was an early influence), the single is a quiet ode to procrastination — a little more anxious than its melodies suggest. “By now I know that I am happiest when I'm keeping myself as busy as possible, but with that I always seem to make the same mistake again and again, which is trying to do too many things and wearing myself down," Bollinger wrote in an email to The FADER. "This song was written at that point, it's meant to feel playful and like an abandonment of all responsibility, but it's also supposed to feel a little uneasy. It's a song about avoidance and escapism at its heart.”

Listen to "Feel Like Doing Nothing" at the top of the page and pre-order A word becomes a sound here.

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Thumbnail image: Jonathan Roensch.

Hear Kate Bollinger’s “Feel Like Doing Nothing,” a quiet ode to procrastination