Cellist and songwriter Alyssa Almeida showed up in a couple memorable Key Studio Sessions this spring, notably shredding with Philly friends Justmadnice and The Lunar Year. Late last month, they picked up and headed southwest, following their Rally Point bandmate Merit Gentle in relocating to Nashville. Philly’s loss is music city’s gain, and Almeida’s skills as a collaborator will come in handy in a scene that thrives on collaboration, possibly moreso than even Philadelphia. But they’ve got another not-so-secret weapon: the debut of Machouse, their pop-oriented solo project that shows their skill as a crafter of earworms outside the scope of indie art-rock.
As Almeida put it on Bandcamp, “I live & die for a chorus,” and we hear that in full effect on Machouse’s debut single “Push//Pull,” featuring Philly peer Niqu; sonically it throws us back to the effervescent days of post-millennial R&B while also sounding wildly contemporary, as Almeida and Niqu swap lyrics about the tangle of love and desire.
Listen below, and stay tuned for more at Machouse’s Bandcamp. Next up for Almeida: a return to Philly on August 26th for a premiere screening of The Rally Point Tour Doc by Juli Wert at Launderette Records; tickets and more info can be found here.