By Barrett White
There’s just something about a bold geometric windbreaker that attracts the eye of Trent Lira, one half of Houston’s New Wave duo the Space Kiddettes. Devin Will, the equally eclectic other half, is like a Marie Fredriksson dream circa Roxette 1992. The pair just celebrated the release of “Process Ü,” the first single since their freshman EP Livingspace // Headspace dropped last year.
Praised for their complex arrangements, often subdued vocals, and throwback sound, the Space Kiddettes make the rounds through Houston’s underground circuit performing with Neo Benshi at The Secret Group, frequent engagements at Leon’s Lounge, and occasional headlining gigs at NOTSUOH.
At the band’s conception, Will and Lira envisioned a sound that was unique, retro, and inspired by synth-pop—“but not synth-pop like Chvrches or Little Dragon,” Will insists. Soon, they began testing the waters with two works that Lira had penned but never recorded, before ultimately collaborating on what would become the rest of the EP, utilizing the recording equipment at University of Houston Coog Radio studio. “We really should have called our first EP a mixtape,” Lira says with a laugh, noting the album’s disconnect between each song. Audiences, however, don’t seem to mind.
With the release of “Process Ü,” Lira and Will feel like they’ve truly found their sound. The new release was dropped on April 6 alongside an accompanying B-side, an ethereal, moody tune titled in Japanese that translates to “I Am Not Your Toy.”
The Space Kiddettes’ broad scope of work is as varied as their sound—the duo also hosts a weekly podcast, Space Case, in which they solve the mysteries that plague their personal lives. Much like the sound of their band, the podcast has evolved from a slightly, but delightfully, disjointed project to the enchanting show it is today, covering real-life mysteries such as cold cases, conspiracy theories, and listener-suggested topics such as the gender conundrum of “Why is wine considered feminine and beer masculine?” “I think I enjoy doing [the show] because, as I think each week about things I want to discuss, it occurs to me how many things in our day-to-day lives that we just don’t question,” Will says.
“We don’t always develop the idea first,” she continues. “We’re sort of a ‘trial by fire’ duo and develop things from there . . . rather than hanging back until we have it perfected. I think when you do that, you get hung up in your own neuroses, and then you never get anything done.” While that may not be everyone’s preferred method, it’s worked for Space Case, which has partnered with Comicpalooza to record episodes from the convention, including interviews on the convention floor and from the official podcast booth. “There were shows we played where we got no response; just people scratching their heads wondering what they had just watched. The only thing worse than a bad response is no response at all! So when we played for this small, one-day festival, Magical Girl Day, and got a huge response, we were like, ‘Why haven’t we been catering more to nerds? We are nerds!,” Will says of their anticipation for Comicpalooza. “We’re ravenous consumers of pop culture. So why don’t we play more to crowds of nerds and consumers of pop culture?’ We’re two people very similar to you, only we play music.”
Plus, you can look forward to more Space Kiddettes coming your way soon—expect a new EP to death drop into your iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, or Google Play this fall. “A new song we’ve been playing is called ‘Low-Impact Aerobics,’ and it’s sort of the inspiration for the direction the rest of the EP is going to go in,” Lira hints.
The new EP, influenced audibly and visually by the 1980s, will explore “the crest of New Wave, the synth pop years, and then early dance music—what would become electronica,” as evidenced by their recent cover of “Heart Like a Wheel” by The Human League and the danceable, infectious “Process Ü.”
You can find Space Kiddettes anywhere you download or stream music. Space Case can be found on spacekiddettes.wordpress.com.
