There's a particular kind of artist who makes you feel like you've stumbled onto something rather than been sold it. Kali Priya Flanagan — the Brooklyn-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who records as Superfan — feels like one of those.

Flanagan has kept himself busy across projects. He's a member of the emo outfit Holidays In United States, previously put out work under the name KALI, and has been building the Superfan project through a handful of early singles. Now it's properly arriving: his debut album My Piledriver Heart is coming this autumn on AD 93, and the opening track "In The Gold Room" is out now to give you a sense of what to expect.

What We're Hearing

"In The Gold Room" is described as idiosyncratic noise-folk, and that's about right. It's not trying to be anything easy. The album itself was mostly recorded live — Flanagan, cellist Omeed Almassi, and producer Hudson Pollock in a room together, getting it down. That approach matters. There's a rawness to records made that way that you simply cannot manufacture in post-production, and on the evidence of this opener, My Piledriver Heart isn't going to be a clean or comfortable listen. We mean that as a compliment.

Alongside the studio version, there's also a live video for "In The Gold Room" directed by Garrett Winston, shot inside the Agger Fish Building at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The setting isn't incidental — the industrial space suits the track's aesthetic perfectly.

If you've already heard the earlier Superfan singles "Apeiron (Fantasy Football)" and "Picture Of Return" — both of which appear on the album — you'll have some idea of where Flanagan's head is at. [Michael Nau's approach to making records](/getohedz/music/michael-nau-announces-new-album-popfly-hear-the-title-track) comes to mind as a loose reference point for that kind of intimate, songwriter-led indie sensibility, though Superfan operates in scrappier, noisier territory.

The Full Picture

The tracklist for My Piledriver Heart runs ten songs:

1. "In The Gold Room"
2. "Miss W Jones"
3. "Jason Powers Or The Underminer"
4. "Keeping Your Smile"
5. "Ode To Hum (I want it to rise)"
6. "Sound Of Turning"
7. "Picture Of Return"
8. "We Were Listening To A Different Time"
9. "Apeiron (Fantasy Football)"
10. "Joy"

The titles alone tell you something. There's a particular kind of literary restlessness running through them — track three and five especially read like they've got stories behind them that won't necessarily be explained to you. Good. Music that withholds a little tends to reward patience.

My Piledriver Heart drops on 16 October via AD 93.

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We're not in the habit of getting excited about debut albums before we've heard them in full. But Flanagan has built enough across these early Superfan releases to make us pay attention when he calls this record a debut — that word carries weight here. If the rest of the album carries the same energy as "In The Gold Room," we'll be talking about it properly come October. Watch this space.