Holy Matter is the pseudonym of Leanna Kaiser, a musician and experimental filmmaker living in Los Angeles who has collaborated with artists ranging from Jessica Pratt to Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500) to Papercuts, and more. Beauty Looking Back is her debut album, featuring nine songs that draw from psych-folk, hypnagogic pop, and experimental noise.
Named after a painting by Hishikawa Moronobu, Beauty Looking Back finds Kaiser exploring the changing seasons of life and the passage of time. The album features contributions from Kaiser’s collaborators past and present, drawing from both her circle in Los Angeles and her origins in St Louis. Former Frances With Wolves bandmate Andy Kahn contributes keyboards, guitar, and bass, while Kate Bollinger contributes backing vocals, and Kaiser’s partner Matt Popieluch (Big Search) contributes classical guitar, 12-string guitar, and violin.
“[A] haunted and haunting voice…a beguiling debut” - ★★★★ Shindig!
“...melds folk, psychedelia, and dream-pop into an intoxicating and slightly unsettling mix…” - ★★★★ Daily Express (UK)
“...explores life’s ever-changing nature with an uncanny dream logic, where past and future marble into something strange and atmospheric.” - Various Small Flames
“Their sound has this cinematic quality to it, quickly drawing you into its depths with this sort of hazy pulse that wraps around the inside of your ears.” - Austin Town Hall
“...channels 60s folk pop convincingly. It’s an effective dose of retrofuturism, one that finds new melodic realms in less traveled retro formats. The legacy of Phil Spector, the Mamas and the Papas, and dreamy Hollywood musical productions find a proper purveyor to keep these sounds new.” - The Wild Is Calling
“...woven from gossamer threads of fairytale and fantasy, nostalgic imbued troubadour-folk, softened psychedelia and country woes, sad lilted resignation, solace, reflection and pathos.” - Monolith Cocktail
