Alone Kitty
Shoegaze has always been built on a handful of towering reference points. My Bloody Valentine set the genre's blueprint with 1991's 'Loveless,' Slowdive carried the sound into flowing, emotional territory on 'Souvlaki,' Ride pushed it faster and more melodic on 'Nowhere,' and the Jesus and Mary Chain laid the noise-pop groundwork the whole movement grew out of. AloneKitty, the Toronto based project of Michelle K, works from that same lineage, layering distortion-heavy walls of guitar over songs that never lose their melodic centre, closer in spirit to the genre's founders than to any of its softer modern imitators.
AloneKitty began as a solitary recording project and has steadily grown into a full band while staying built around Michelle K's singular songwriting voice. Both the self-titled debut and its follow-up, 'sad not sad,' released through Mint 400 Records, charted on the NACC 200 through North American college radio. The current lineup adds Michael Small on bass and Stefan Loebus on drums alongside Michelle K on guitar and vocals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f0zKWO4OQ8
'wide awake,' out now, was not written as a grief record, but it became one. Michelle K's father passed away while she was writing it, and her mother died a few months later. "No one is there to save me anymore," she says of the realization that stayed with her through the process. "As adults we still, in some quiet way, think of our parents as the people behind us if everything falls apart. Suddenly that backstop was gone."
Listen on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6eSWjdKBXyKvDyQEGtVZUS
Rather than overthink the record, she chased honesty instead. The band tracked almost entirely live over two days at Union Sound in Toronto with engineer Darren, most songs finished in one or two takes. Bassist Michael Small and drummer Stefan Loebus pushed themselves throughout, often stopping a take before Michelle would if they felt they could do better. "That level of trust and shared investment made this the most collaborative record I've ever made," she says.
Listen on Bandcamp here: https://alonekitty.bandcamp.com/
Sonically, the album leans hard into the world that first drew Michelle K to Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. More than half the songs were written using alternate guitar tunings, an approach inspired by Thurston Moore's album 'The Last Day,' which she became obsessed with while writing. Songs including "I'm Wide Awake" and "She Thinks It's Alright" came together almost on their own once she started exploring those tunings.
The choice of lead single wasn't Michelle K's alone. She asked Simon Scott of Slowdive, who mastered the record, which song he thought should introduce the album. His answer was immediate: "It's a banger." She wasn't about to argue.
One song on the record sits deliberately apart from the rest. "Disappointed (For the Last Time)" was recorded separately at Harlow Sound with engineer Justin McWilliams, with Michelle K playing every instrument herself, a wall of sound aimed at the memory of a father who could not, or would not, accept who she was. The session became one of the most peaceful experiences of the entire album, hours spent talking about music, art and life with McWilliams between takes, and listening back afterward in the control room stands out as one of the most meditative moments she has had in a studio.
'wide awake' was mixed by Luke Schindler, known for his work with Broken Social Scene and Alexisonfire, and mastered by Simon Scott of Slowdive, continuing a creative partnership that has become central to the project's sound. "I don't write pop songs," Michelle K says. "I write through a wall of sound and sadness and try to find beauty in it." If 'sad not sad' was the record where AloneKitty discovered what it could become as a band, 'wide awake' is the record where everyone trusted that instinct, louder, tighter and more urgent, but underneath all the distortion still about choosing to keep making something beautiful after life reminds you how fragile everything actually is.
Tour dates:
October 10, 2026, Palasad SocialBowl, London, ON, with Basement Revolver and Closeout
October 25, 2026, Supermarket, Toronto, ON, with Be Stil and Scummm, presented by Major Tom Records
November 18, 2026, Houndstooth, Toronto, ON, 'wide awake' Toronto release show, lineup TBA
January 30, Oshawa, ON, venue TBA