Video: KERA, ‘I’m Late’ (Part 1 of ‘Fall.Apart’)

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KERA (Photo by Simone Niamani Thompson)
KERA (Photo by Simone Niamani Thompson)

KERA is the artist whose music formerly arrived under the name Kera & the Lesbians, the cheekily named outfit of a queer frontperson backed by straight dudes. Kera Armendariz’s provocative songs (musically and lyrically), ravenous playing and outsized persona were the main attractions, the later two qualities having led to a Armendariz’s steady work as a side player for a host of L.A. bands. KERA’s debut EP under the new name arrives April 13. It’s titled “Fall. Apart,” and its three songs soundtrack a short film that the songwriter wrote, directed and stars in. In the first episode, “I’m Late,” Armendariz stares, characteristically intense, into the abyss of the demise of a long relationship.

It turns out that expanding the experience beyond a mere song or EP had its benefits. “What it showed me even during the process of filming it and editing it and finishing the film was that there’s a lot of habits from trauma that I’ve kind of gathered through the years that I needed to unlearn,” Armendariz says. “I realized that I need to unlearn these things in order to have more meaningful relationships.”

KERA also announced that 2018 will see the release of a collaboration with Devendra Banhart; no details yet on that.

||| Watch: The video for “I’m Late”

||| Live: KERA plays April 12 at the Moroccan Lounge along with Y La Bamba. Tickets.