OUT TODAY:
WILD HEART CLUB’S DEBUT LP ARCADE BACK IN MANITOU
“A delicious slice of 80s-inspired goodness, lushly textured with simmering synths and fiery guitar licks” - East Of 8th
“…irresistibly fascinating indie-pop” - glamglare
LISTEN: ARCADE BACK IN MANITOU
Today, Nashville-based dream-pop outfit Wild Heart Club has released their debut LP Arcade Back In Manitou. Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Kristen Castro, the creative force behind the band, is a genre-crossing artist known for blending a surprising range of electronic, digital, and analog elements into her dreamy, atmospheric indie-pop. She built a name for herself as an independent solo artist with a penchant for electric guitar, a dark sensibility, and a bracing tenderness reminiscent of acts like the Cocteau Twins.
The album, an ethereal and lush collection of melancholy tracks with a brilliant gloss of retro sheen, explores a gamut of emotions—lows like processing the effects of a toxic relationship and navigating being gay while trying to love someone who wants to keep the relationship a secret, and highs like reveling in the magnetism of undeniable chemistry with the one you love and learning to forgive.
“I’ve always been drawn to people who aren’t in the cool club—the weirdos embracing their weirdness,” she says. “This is music for them, as always.” Castro wrote, recorded, and primarily produced Arcade Back in Manitou herself, playing every instrument heard except for percussion. The process helped her deal with heartbreak after a particularly difficult breakup.
“I never let myself fully produce or write the way I wanted. I felt like I had something to prove and I was always watering down what I had to say or not putting myself first musically,” she reveals. “Being in such a deep place of loss made it easier to be honest. I wrote this album to help myself out of a really dark place. I left a band I was in for 6 years in 2018 and then went through a breakup in 2019. For a month in 2020, I broke down and wrote these songs. I had zero intention of an album coming about but am happy it worked out that way.”
There’s a genuine and hopeful engagement with the positive, a buoyant, almost-ironic sense of cheer teeming from the instrumentation throughout and a spirit of experimentation and discovery, despite the themes of loss the lyrics explore. The album’s title track is a fine example - a beautiful song about revisiting a place full of happy memories after the end of a relationship. “My ex loved everything Colorado because she’s from there - one of my favorite moments was running from the rain in downtown Manitou Springs and finding cover at this penny arcade. I didn’t really think of that memory a lot so I was surprised when the idea came about,” Castro explains. The song’s accompanying video filmed in and around the actual Arcade in Manitou Springs, Colorado, was featured exclusively at The Colorado Springs Gazette and offers a glimpse into the area’s ethereal landscape.
WATCH: “ARCADE BACK IN MANITOU”
Transforming abstract emotion into compelling music, Castro’s early releases feature everything from mandolin to bass, piano to synth, banjo to drum programming, in songs that feel both effortless and complex at the same time. With Wild Heart Club, she's blended a lifetime of influences—hip-hop, folk, and even her time spent in metal bands when she was younger—to create an intoxicating, synth-heavy, guitar-driven soundscape laced with her breezy, candied vocals: a dream-pop confection that's one part Sigur Rós, one part Heart, and all parts Kristen Castro. Wild Heart Club evolves her eclectic foundations into an even more distinct and cohesive sound. It’s a strange and compelling combination that feels right for the current moment.
Hints of 80s plastic-pop and elements of 90s alternative cool are nestled in the mix, as well as nods to vintage and modern Swedish pop acts like Robyn, Léon, and ABBA. “I want to be the artist who can make you cry on the dance floor. I like songs that pair darker thoughts with happy vibes. Emotions are complex. It feels right to have that kind of complicated juxtaposition play out in music,” she says. “It feels honest.”
Arcade Back In Manitou is available to download at iTunes and Amazon Music. Be sure to follow Wild Heart Club at the links below for the latest news and updates.
ARCADE BACK IN MANITOU TRACKLISTING
Her, If Losing You Had A Sound
Arcade Back In Manitou
Unhappy
Glitter On The Drum
Ever You Go
Down From The Heavens
Chemistry
Tupelo Honey
Rainbow
Overflow (Ruled by Saturn)