Los Angeles alt-rock band Starling are excited to share their new EP, Forgive Me, available digitally and on vinyl now via San Antonio’s Sunday Drive Records. Today’s release captures the high highs and low lows of being in love, from falling into it to swaying out of it. Unrelenting guitars crash against bandleader Kasha Souter Willett’s caressing vocals, anchored by grounding drums. Moments of noise are accompanied by sweet sparseness, wrapping the listener in a blanket of emotion.
“Our record reflects the longing of its title, ‘Forgive Me,’. There is regret, loss, and eventually acceptance in the material,” Starling explain. “We began writing these songs in 2024, and most of the recordings are informed by what we do in our live performance. To the band, this is not an EP, as it is over 30 minutes and conceptually tied together through every song. But it’s also not really an LP; It is only 7 songs. So we don’t really care what you call it. This work feels like a transition; for the band, and the sentiment in the music.”
LISTEN TO FORGIVE ME,
Heralding the announcement of Forgive Me, was “I Can Be Convinced,” a hard-hitting but sickly sweet departure from their sparse and airy dreamscapes. The single sees the four-piece examine an all-consuming love and the comfort one can find in confinement. Soaring guitars, blistering hi-hats and Kasha’s saultering vocals push the song towards sonic chaos. Directed by David Milan Kelly and produced by Skyler Sulby, the official music video for the single was filmed in Los Angeles, CA, and features the band amongst an array of ballerinas. Performed as a duet, the second single “No Frown” documents the invincibility and sweetness that a small town love can bring. Acoustic guitar and string arrangements evoke fond memories, yearning for the past as Kasha and Gitai’s vocals reminisce on moments of desire. A striking, ever-relevant song, Starling’s entry into the slowness marks one of their most reflective and memorable releases yet.
LISTEN TO “NO FROWN”
WATCH THE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR “I CAN BE CONVINCED”
Starling has kept busy since their inception in 2023, steadily releasing music and playing shows on the West Coast. Their debut EP, 2324, arrived last fall via tastemaking tape label Pleasure Tapes. Serving as a compilation of their singles from 2023 and 2024, the project features fan favorite songs like “Bottlebrush Tree” and “Falling Down a Mystery Hillside.”
Having recently finished up a run of shows with fellow LA band Cryogeyser, Starling has rocked opening slots across town with Flooding, Devon Ross and more. Starting next month, they’ll support Phoenix shoegaze band Glixen across the U.S. For information about upcoming shows, see below and follow Starling on Instagram at @starlingband.
STARLING LIVE 2025
SUPPORTING GLIXEN
JULY
2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge *
11 – Oxnard, CA @ Mrs. Olson’s
12 – Ojai, CA @ Ojai Women’s Club
13 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
AUGUST
1 – Davenport, IA @ The Raccoon Motel
2 – Tolono, IL @ Loose Cobra
4 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
5 – Lubbock, TX @ Jake’s Sports Café
6 – Marfa, TX @ Planet Marfa
7 – El Paso, TX @ Love Buzz
8 – Arenas Valley, NM @ Whiskey Creek Zócalo
* – no Glixen, Benefit Show for CHIRLA
STARLING
FORGIVE ME,
SUNDAY DRIVE RECORDS
1. Quiet
2. I Can Be Convinced – WATCH
3. My Love
4. 25
5. No Frown
6. Slow Down
7. Keep It
ABOUT STARLING:
Starling is a four-piece Alternative band born and based in Los Angeles, CA, creating music with a soft heaviness, weaving from grunge to songwriter to shoegaze. The band’s absolute genre is hard to pin, but the feel is a general yearning for contentment, a person, a place. Combining bedroom warped production with angular leads and rich vocal melodies, Starling offers a uniquely vulnerable and enthralling style of rock.
Lead singer and guitarist Kasha Souter Willett started the project in 2023 without a vision of what it would become. In May 2024, Starling officially formed with three more integral members – Erik Sathrum Johnson, Grace Rolek and Gitai Vinshtok. Their first EP 2324 was released in September 2024.
Confusion, frustration, love and loss are all expressed throughout Starling’s new EP, Forgive Me,. Written over the course of about a year, the LA band recorded themselves in various sheds, apartments, and garages. The EP was mixed by drummer Erik Sathrum Johnson, artwork was shot by the band and their friends, and then mastered by Greg Obis (MJ Lenderman, Wishy, Duster).
Songs like “Quiet” start off with a slow and delicate melody, and then explode in sound halfway through. The guitars in the song were recorded in the middle of summer in a garage with no AC—a physically intense, almost spiritual experience that bleeds into the recording. The lead single, “I Can Be Convinced,” is a sad and yearning song, with a need to be still; yet ironically, it’s one of the most upbeat songs on the EP.
The EP closes with the nearly seven-minute “Keep It” a track Starling had been performing since early 2024. Lyrically charged with frustration, it builds tension through eerie, hushed verses that give way to a loud, distorted chorus—showcasing the band’s ability to channel emotion through dynamic contrast.
With Forgive Me, Starling has crafted a deeply personal and fully DIY EP, shaping every sonic detail themselves. The result is a project where every melody, rhythm, and raw feeling is intentionally placed and unmistakably theirs.
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